Cucina Pugliese

[hathor]

Stevarino. gorgeous pictures! What an awesome experience. Puglia is seafood nirvana.

Mark Bauman, you won't have any trouble at all finding small family run trattoria's in Pulgia.

Here was one of our favorites. It was mostly raw shellfish, but it was outstanding, although their white wine packed a wallop....or maybe it was the abundant sunshine. Whatever, you are in for a treat.

Stevarino, did you go to any of the rotisserias? Not sure how to spell that. Rotisserie places? Incredibly good.

[Stevarino]

That is a mantis shrimp on top, and those little red fish are called? I was afraid this was going to happen. Anybody know? I forget.

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I just found the resource for these little red fish, they are called "Triglie", and yes, they are a (rock)mullet as Kevin72 pointed out.

[Stevarino]

Stevarino. gorgeous pictures! What an awesome experience. Puglia is seafood nirvana.

Mark Bauman, you won't have any trouble at all finding small family run trattoria's in Pulgia.

Here was one of our favorites. It was mostly raw shellfish, but it was outstanding, although their white wine packed a wallop....or maybe it was the abundant sunshine. Whatever, you are in for a treat.

Stevarino, did you go to any of the rotisserias? Not sure how to spell that. Rotisserie places? Incredibly good.

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Hathor, I did not see a rotisseria (?) while there. I was expecting to, but it didn't happen. One night out, at the pizzeria in Giovinazzo, someone in the group brought in gnumerelli for us to try. They were awesome. These are little pieces of the lamb offal, wrapped with a lamb casing, then grilled. They were very good, and I ate a bunch of them. I guess they are pretty labor intensive to make. In my Culinaria Italy book, they show a butcher shop in Martina Franca, that cooks meat on big skewers inside a wood fired oven.

One week wasn't enough, but a good start.

[Stevarino]

MarkBauman wrote:

"I have one general question about the availability of such typical foods. Are these dishes that one would only find as cucina casalinga in a family's home, or in a cooking school, or would you generally find in, say, family-run osterie? On a trip a few years back to Toscana, we looked for some typical dishes I had read about, studied, etc. and we were often told "You have to go to someone's house for that". Not sure if we just didn't find the right local-enough places, or because Toscana is in general a bit more upscale and elegantly touristy than Puglia. I am planning during our stay in Puglia to try to find as many really local-type places and skip the higher-end ristorante as much as possible. Am also looking for possibly during another trip (either to Puglia or elsewhere) for a cooking school for very enthusiastic, experienced, but non-professional home cooks like myself who want to go beyond the average cooking-class experience. Would you know if this school takes non-professionals? I can get by in basic Italian."

Mark, I don't know if I have the right answer, but I have my own opinion, and moved this over to the Puglia thread, because I would really like to hear what others may have experienced in Puglia, and also in the Tuscany region. Also, in our orientation on day1, Chef Giacomo pointed to "Food & Wine Tours" as one  of Puglia's focal points to draw tourism to their region.

The restaurants that we ate in definitely wanted us to experience their food culture. I have heard that Tuscany gets hit with alot of tourists, and they're not all there for the food, or, they may also be looking to tour the Olive Garden's Tuscan Culinary Institute.

As far as the cooking school question, I don't know, but I posted the link to Cuochi Barese, and I will also see if I can find a link to ICE Bari. In Nancy Harmon Jenkin's book, "Flavors of Puglia", she mentions a cooking school in Bari that she attended. I'll post that when I get home tonight.

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Mark, I found the name of the cooking instructor in "Flavors of Puglia" and her name is Paola Pettini. That all I can tell you for now. I sent an email to Associazione Cuochi Barese to see what i can find out from them. I'll keep you posted.

[markabauman]

Grazie mille!

I looked up Castro on both Mapquest and Google Earth. Looks like it is close to the Adriatic coast, roughly 10 miles south of Otranto, in Lecce province.

Castro map

[hathor]

Yup, you found Castro. It's just a little village, with a very cool port. But, its a really small village. And if we ever find ourselves sharing a bottle of wine, I'll tell you the story about the town slightly north of Castro, where there are thermal springs. It's one of THE strangest places I have EVER, EVER been. We refer to it as the time we went to the "Mother Ship." Puglia is a wild place!

[Pan]

[...]Stevarino, did you go to any of the rotisserias? Not sure how to spell that. Rotisserie places?[...]

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I don't know if there's some kind of Pugliese dialect name, but the word I know is rosticceria, plural rosticcerie.

Edited June 4, 2007 by Pan (log)

[hathor]

[...]Stevarino, did you go to any of the rotisserias? Not sure how to spell that. Rotisserie places?[...]

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I don't know if there's some kind of Pugliese dialect name, but the word I know is rosticceria, plural rosticcerie.

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I knew that I wasn't even close to spelling it correctly! thanks!!

[Stevarino]

Day2 with Chef Nicola Modugno

Chef Modugno shares his Paccheri with cuttlefish ragu & pecorino flakes

He starts out with sliced onions & extra virgin olive oil, which he cooks to slightly brown.

Next, he adds the cuttlefish that has been cut into pieces.

Dry white wine is added next, and allowed to cook down for a few minutes, and seasoned with salt & pepper.

Now, he adds tomato puree and whole canned tomatoes run through a mill.

While the ragout simmers, he cooks the Paccheri in heavily salted water.

The pasta gets tossed in the ragu to finish, and hits the plate. Chef Pasquale stands ready with a plate of Canestrato Pugliese pecorino & chopped parsley to garnish.

There you have it.

Edited June 5, 2007 by Stevarino (log)

[Kevin72]

Interesting. I don't want to take this thread too far off track and I know it was mentioned earlier, but now they really ARE moving into violating the "cheese and seafood" rule. I have noticed, however, the Puglia and a few other regions (Sicily, for one) seem to play more fast and loose with the rule. So did the chef talk about it at all?

[Stevarino]

Swordfish with cuttlefish ink sauce

Next, Chef Nicola Modugno prepares sliced swordfish with vegetables, and cuttle fish sauce with ink.

Chef Nicola starts out with thin slices of swordfish...

and blanched vegetables.

he lays the swordfish slices on a work surface, and pats them dry with absorbent paper.

He places a bundle of the blanched vegetables on one side of the swordfish.

He seasons the swordfish with sea salt & fennel seed.

Simply, fold over the free side, and press firmly with your hand.

Transfer the fish to a baking pan, and drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil, and a little more sea salt. The fish is ready for the oven. Because the fish is sliced thin, and the vegetables are already cooked, it wont take very long.

Chef Nicola starts the cuttlefish sauce. He slices the cuttlefish, and Maresa, our translator, holds a packet of the ink that will be added to the sauce.

This is chopped garlic, that is slow cooked in extra virgin olive oil that Chef Nicola uses in some of his cooking.

Maresa explains, with Italian hand gestures, that some people like to taste alot of garlic in their food!

He adds a couple ladles full to his pan that he will cook the cuttlefish sauce in.

Chef Nicola heats up the pan and adds the cuttlefish.

Next, he adds a fair amount of white wine...

followed by heavy cream...

and then comes that packet of ink.

and this is what you get when you mix black ink with white cream!!! tastes better than it looks.

Meanwhile, the swordfish has finished cooking.

The plate is garnished with chopped parsley & peeled cherry tomatoes (not shown)

[Stevarino]

Kevin, I attribute it to the Canestrato Pugliese. It works with the seafood, and is a major component in giving their region its own flavor profile.

Update;

I talked with my friend, Chef Pasquale Celone, who was also on the trip. Pasquale is from Campania, and he said they never put cheese on seafood in Campania. (But, I know that they put clams & mussels on pizza, with cheese.)

We brain stormed on a couple of points:

1) The type of cheese that they are using, Canestrato Pugliese, is milder in flavor than say, a pecororino romano, and therefore, doesn't over power the mild flavor of the seafood.

2) In restaurants, depending on the cheese, grated over a plate of seafood may create an unpleasant aroma, which may lead a customer, or people at the next table, to question the freshness of the seafood.

3) We discussed local wine. In Puglia, you'll find just about everybody drinking red wine, and especially negroamaro. They drink it with everything, and its pretty aggressive. It'll stand up to some big flavors, and especially an aged cheese.

In Campagnia, you find a lot of white wine, Fiano & Greco di Tufo, which both are great with seafoods. Another thing that works very nicely with greco di tufo is fresh lemon juice, as in those beauties from the Amalfi coast, squeezed over the fish with capers, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.

I can't say that this has anything to do with it, but if the wine (greco di tufo) works better without, than why would you want to add cheese?

Food for thought?

Edited June 6, 2007 by Stevarino (log)

[Kevin72]

Kevin,  I attribute it to the Canestrato Pugliese. It works with the seafood, and is a major component in giving their region its own flavor profile.

Update;

I talked with my friend, Chef Pasquale Celone, who was also on the trip. Pasquale is from Campania, and he said they never put cheese on seafood in Campania. (But, I know that they put clams & mussels on pizza, with cheese.)

We brain stormed on a couple of points:

1) The type of cheese that they are using, Canestrato Pugliese, is milder in flavor than say, a pecororino romano, and therefore, doesn't over power the mild flavor of the seafood.

2) In restaurants, depending on the cheese, grated over a plate of seafood may create an unpleasant aroma, which may lead a customer, or people at the next table, to question the freshness of the seafood.

3) We discussed local wine. In Puglia, you'll find just about everybody drinking red wine, and especially negroamaro. They drink it with everything, and its pretty aggressive. It'll stand up to some big flavors, and especially an aged cheese.

In Campagnia, you find a lot of white wine, Fiano & Greco di Tufo, which both are great with seafoods. Another thing that works very nicely with greco di tufo is fresh lemon juice, as in those beauties from the Amalfi coast, squeezed over the fish with capers, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.

I can't say that this has anything to do with it, but if the wine (greco di tufo) works better without, than why would you want to add cheese?

Food for thought?

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Thanks for the additional points there. Now I'm really intrigued about this cheese. Is it sheep or cow's milk?

And your wine point brings up a whole other area of concern of such a strong red not working well with seafood . . .

[Stevarino]

Kevin, it is a sheep's milk cheese.

As quoted from Cooperativa Caseificio Pugliese, "the "Canestrato Pugiese" D.O.P. is a typical half cooked, hard paste cheese produced in a limited area of Puglia. It is entirely made from sheep's milk bred in the north west of Murge. It's organoleptic characteristics are strictly related to the cattle's feeding, which consists of chemical free vegetation.It is a rennet coagulated cheese, and after ripening for 3 to 4 months, the white-creamy paste is elastic and compact, with a slight savory taste. Successively, the cheese is treated with extra virgin olive oil, and after 10-12 months, it is ready for tasting. The paste becomes friable (?) with rere eyes (?), straw-colored, with a sharp taste and fragrant flavor."

Puglia Cheese Cooperative

If Puglia had Greco di Tufo, things may definitely turned out differently!

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[hathor]

Stevarino, when the chef uses that slow cooked garlic oil, does he incorporate the garlic bits, or just use the oil? In one photo it looks like he's using the bits, but the finished sauce looks smooth.

[Stevarino]

Hathor, He's using it together. So, there is alot of garlic in that sauce. I'm not sure if this garlic preparation is a regional approach, or a personal touch. Anybody out there in TV land know the answer to this question? Could it be used in Spanish cooking. I've had cuttlefish, cooked with garlic, and squid ink, in a thick tomato sauce, served as a tapa. The Spanish controlled this area in the past. (?)

Stevarino, when the chef uses that slow cooked garlic oil, does he incorporate the garlic bits, or just use the oil? In one photo it looks like he's using the bits, but the finished sauce looks smooth.

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[hathor]

I'm just a little surprised. Most Italians are not that fond of an overload of garlic. Many recipes call for warming the garlic in oil and then discarding the garlic. Me, I like the garlic right in the dish!

[Stevarino]

It didn't really seem that appetizing to me when I saw him using it. It reminded me of that aweful chopped garlic that comes in a jar, that they market as "zesty", that alot of restaurants in Suburbia use on their saute stations. I like fresh garlic, and I like roasted garlic, but I'm not sure about this one.

I'm just a little surprised. Most Italians are not that fond of an overload of garlic. Many recipes call for  warming the garlic in oil and then discarding the garlic. Me, I like the garlic right in the dish! 

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Furthermore, in Root's "Food of Italy", he writes, " The south is usually thought of as garlic country, but Apulia is cool toward garlic. In "This Cuisine" Italian food expert, Felice Cunsolo, writes, "garlic does not play a leading, but a secondary role; it should not call attention to its odor or its presence. Precisely for this reason, many specialties are characterized by a pleasing sweet undercurrent which comes from onions, totally or partly for garlic."" It also says that in Northern Puglia, more garlic is used, but the south uses mostly all onion.

I don't know how much of this is still true, but there you have it.

[Pontormo]

So, he is taking the fava bean puree, and using it as the under lay of the timbale.

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So, I gave in and soaked an entire pound of dried fava beans and peeled them last night. Never will I complain about peeling fresh fava beans again--they just pop out of their skins when blanched. But, man, you could watch an entire movie and then some while husking the dried legumes (and the odor is rather pronounced even when you have a cold)! Before I cook and purée about half of them,* I just wanted to ask if there was anything special in the way they were prepared.

*Judith, you want the rest?

[Kevin72]

So, I gave in and soaked an entire pound of dried fava beans and peeled them last night.  Never will I complain about peeling fresh fava beans again--they just pop out of their skins when blanched.  But, man, you could watch an entire movie and then some while husking the dried legumes (and the odor is rather pronounced even when you have a cold)!  Before I cook and purée about half of them,* I just wanted to ask if there was anything special in the way they were prepared.

*Judith, you want the rest?

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There are peeled dried fava beans available; they are more yellowish in color and available at Latino or Middle-Eastern grocers. Much easier. They should just collapse after cooking with only stirring necessary; no pureeing is needed. All they'll need is a jot of good oil and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt over the top.

[Pontormo]

Oh, well. Took forever for me to find a source for dried fava beans in D.C. to begin with, next time, I guess, I'll go out to the suburbs. Thanks for the rest of the information! There's a baker that shows up at a farmers market this evening that is rumored to make a really good Pugliese bread, so my timing is perfect.

Edited June 7, 2007 by Pontormo (log)

[mrbigjas]

kevin or anyone else who's made this, i have two questions:

1. is it served hot, traditionally, or room temp?

2. about how long does it take? i have dried favas at home but i've only ever soaked them overnight and used them to make falafel. so i'd need to plan for dinner but have no idea how long they'd take to cook to mush.

[Kevin72]

I serve it room temp or slightly warmer.

If the favas are peeled (and again, they'll be a pale yellowish color, not a brown or dark green which means they have the peels on) they won't need an overnight soaking and will cook and fall apart in around an hour.

Traditionally, it's accompanied by sauteed bitter greens (I use dandelion) and fried peppers. I use poblanos, per Jenkins' instructions in her Puglia cookbook, as they best approximate the peppers used there. Both work really well off the puree.

[mrbigjas]

excellent, thanks. looking forward to this one.

[Stevarino]

I haven't cooked them in over a year but heres my notes on what I did with the fava beans;

"I soaked the dried fava beans overnight in cold water. The beans doubled in volume, and I allowed for two ounces per person. I put the beans in cold water, and brought them to a boil. Then I strained them, washed them, and added fresh water to cook the beans, I added small diced onion, celery, parsley stem, and garlic. I also added sliced potatoes to give the beans more body. When the beans were soft, I pureed them, and seasoned them with salt & extra virgin olive oil. "

I feel motivated to try it again. The organic farm has baby red dandelion greens on his product list this week. If I can get some, I 'll cook it up & post it!