Apulia / Typical products

Traditional Apulian cuisine is based on simple elements from local agriculture, sheep farming and fishing. The products that characterize it most are bread, pasta, olive oil, wine, cardoncelli mushrooms from Murgia, pecorino cheeses, Fior di latte DOP (cow’s milk mozzarella), Canestrato of Apulia DOP, fresh ricotta, marzotica ricotta (compact, to be grated), ricotta forte (spicy), scamorze, Caciocavallo podolico del Gargano, Burrata di Andria, brasciole and meat rolls, fresh meat sausages, tripe, capocollo, soppressata, blue fish, rock fish, sea urchins, Taranto mussels, fresh seasonal fruit (strawberries, cherries, watermelons, melons, peaches, grapes, citrus fruits, persimmons, etc.) .

The recipes of the Apulian cuisine all have the same basic ingredients, however they vary from city to city. However, a common feature is that spices and condiments combine to enhance the flavors, never to correct or transform them.

Among the typical dishes of Apulia we mention: “Cavatelli and mussels”, “Chicory with fava bean puree”, “Rolls with lamb entrails” (“torcinelli” from Foggia), “municeddhi” from Salento (snails), “Orecchiette al ragù of meat “,” Orecchiette alla barese “(Orecchiette and turnip tops); “Grilled octopus”, “Risotto with seafood”, “Teglia Bari” (rice, potatoes and mussels).

Traditional Apulian pasta and bread are produced with durum wheat flour from the Tavoliere (plain north of Puglia).
Dry pasta is produced, in hundreds of formats, by pasta factories that export it all over the world. Fresh pasta is handcrafted and homemade, the best known shapes of which are “orecchiette”, “fettuccine”, “cavatelli”.

Traditional bread is produced with natural yeast and baked in wood-fired ovens in very large sizes, even over 2 kg. Renowned are the “bread of
Gargano “and the” Altamura bread “.

Typical flour products of Apulia are also taralli, friselle, pizzas, focaccia, calzoni and panzerotti.

Among the typical vegetables of Apulia we mention: turnip tops, green cabbage, artichokes, thistles and wild vegetables, cicerchie, broad beans from Carpino, red onion from Acquaviva delle Fonti.

Among the typical sweets, products based on flour, almonds, honey, vincotto (wine or figs) and candied fruit, we remember the cartellate, the mostaccioli, the sfogliatelle, the sasanelli, the boconotti, the scarcelle, the zeppole.

The typical citrus fruits of Puglia are oranges, the femminiello lemon from the Gargano and the clementines from the Gulf of Taranto.