Food & Wine
Italy and Salento Cuisine | Olive Trees | Olive Oil | Wine Tasting
Italy and Salento Cuisine
The separate states of Italy were only relatively recently united (compared with other European countries) just over a century ago by Garibaldi. The differences in the regions are by no means limited to history. There are large differences in climates, landscapes, cultures and of course there are many different styles of cooking. Although there are some universal Italian recipes which are eaten throughout the country, the ingredients and methods can vary enormously from region to region, indeed, from kitchen to kitchen.
For example, I was amazed to find out that Orecchiete (“little ears”), which is a well known Pugliese pasta, is far bigger in Lecce than in Bari (Puglia’s “capital”) less than 100miles up the coast. Some ingredients found in Salento can not be found in Milan or even as close as Rome.
Apulia has a style of cooking that is the quintessential Mediterranean diet: fresh vegetables, fish, tomatoes, pasta and olive oil. The reliance upon what the area can produce has shaped a diet which has been popular for centuries, particularly with the poorer Italian people, and is called la cucina povera. Now we are seeing a resurgence of this "peasant cooking" and the Mediterranean diet is being touted as the model around which we should restructure our eating habits. 
