Vacanze pugliesi - 1

After the very, VERY busy November and December months - so busy I didn't feel like writing anything on my blogs neither did I really have the time and energy to do it - it was high time I had a little holiday to recharge my batteries that were pretty depleted.
What better way to do that than going South, to Bari in the beautiful Apulia region where I grew up, to get a bit spoiled by Mum and Dad, to spend quality time with family and friends and to overeat as I usually do when I'm there?
My friend Valentina says that when she's with me we always get some food, one way or the other. I wonder why. :D

We got dined and wined alright, the two of us. We went roaming around Puglia (the Italian name for Apulia) in her cool black Volvo - funnily enough most Italians seem to prefer cars that are NOT Italian even though that does not include me, the 3 cars I've owned were and are all made by FIAT - for great food and beautiful places, something of a passion we both share, and got ourselves interacting with some fabulous chefs and great producers that were more than happy to let us try the results of their culinary talents. All of them where, of course, kind of  "twist my arm!" occasions. ;D

On our way to stunningly beautiful Masseria Il Frantoio in the vicinity of Ostuni where we had dined the evening before (more about it later) we visited a fantastic caseificio (a cheese maker) in Speziale di Fasano, a little village, and bought all sorts of cheeses for our little colazione al sacco (packed lunch), from wonderful, juicy nodini (little mozzarella's in the shape of a knot, nodo in Italian) to lovely fresh ricotta and giuncata (soft, fresh and delicate cheese, better eaten on the very same day), smoked cacioricotta (a harder, ripened ricotta made from a mixture of cow's and sheep's milk) and a yummie caciocavallo ripened in the local Primitivo wine. Of course when lunch time arrived Valentina and I couldn't resist the temptation of eating the nodini with our hands right out of the plastic bag accompanied by some wonderful crunchy tarallini, the little ring-shaped bread sticks typical of this region, and that while still driving!
I guess there's really nothing that can stop us from getting food into our mouths...

Freshly made mozzarella is too good to resist...

At home, after our tour, tarallini and smoked cacioricotta with a good glass of wine

Comments

[maryann]

Nicoletta, Thanks so much for reporting about your stay in Bari. My grandparents are from there. I hope you have more pictures? xox

[Nicoletta]

Hi Maryann, I don't have lots of pictures of Bari but I'll see what I can find in my folders. Definitely some of the lungomare, where my mum lives. :) And I'll ask my friend Valentina if she provides me with some recent ones, she makes beautiful photos when she's driving around.