Apulia is a large, fertile region that forms the heel of the Italian boot. Unlike nearly all other Italian regions, which are mostly hilly and mountainous, it is relatively flat.

This is the area of Murgia

In the Murgia Hills, there are about 1500 wild types, among trees, spontaneous flowers andother typical wild plants:

THE OAK There are 7 kinds of them

Flora

THE OHLM-OAK (quercus ilex)

It can reach 20-25 m of height

The COMMON POPPY (PAPAVER RHOEAS L.) is an herbaceus plant that catches the eyes of the observer for its intense red colour.

The wild orchids are unique and admirable and there are several types in our area.

Other typical plants of these zones are the rods and the asphodels

The ASFODELI (ASPHODELIS RAMOSUS) are very simple and beautiful flowers. They are common on Murgia Hills.

The RODS (FERULA CHILIANTHE) was used by the shepherds to build stools in the past.

GASTRONOMY

Altamura is important for its typical cooking, made of simple foods produced by the earth.Some things are essential to our kitchen:

•Wheat •Olive tree •Vegetables•Sheep/lamb meat

wheat

vegetables

Olive tree

Vegetables

The rural populations of Apulia have always been great consumers of wild vegetables. The wild flora includes numerous species which are difficult to find now, because of intensive agricultural methods

Wild chicory

It grows spontaneously after the 1st summer thunderstorm until winter. Its tender leaves are boiled and seasoned with olive oil and lemon or they are sautéed with garlic, oil and some tomatoes., The typical recipe is boiled chicory and “fava” beans

Wild fennel

It is eaten as vegetables with pasta or is used to flavour meat dishes. Its seeds are used to flavour pork sausages, mushrooms and also “taralli” a baked pastry product

Musky wild mushrooms

they grow near the wild thistles. They have a delicate flavour and are cooked in different ways: baked, grilled, sautéed and cooked with pasta and meat

Dishes prepared with “Cardoncelli”

Muscari (Lampascioni): this bulb is both wild and cultivated all over Puglia. It is famous for their genuine and bitter taste. There are different ways to prepare them: boiled and seasoned with oil and salt, fried and golden with eggs, sautéed with garlic and parsley, baked with lamb or pork

Dishes prepared with “lampascioni”

fried and golden with eggs

boiled and seasoned with tomato sauce

Sheep and lamb meat In our area sheep and goats are particularly tasty because of the extensive pasture. The Apulians shepherds since ancient times, prefer lamb and goat, which they cook simply with fragrant herbs and olive oil The meats come from local farms, especially lamb, which is considered as the “favorite dish”. It is cooked on live charcoal. Sheep instead, is cooked in terra-cotta containers.

Roll is prepared ingeniously: lamb's hearts, lights, and intestines are skewered and cooked on a blazing grill, then eaten with raw celery and sharp sheep's milk

cheese.

Traditional meat dishes

Roll prepared with offal: lamb's heart, lights and lung

Stock lamb prepared with lamb, fennel, some local vegetables, eggs and grated cheese

BreadA baker’s product obtained from flour of durum wheat made by milling durum wheat grainIt has been the principal element - the “absolute” one - of traditional diet of Altamura for ages.In the past it was prepared at home, and it assumed a sort of ritual act

The ingredients

Durum wheat flour, yeast, hot water and salt. It is worked by hand till it reaches the proper consistency. The real secret is the fermentation: about 4 hours

The baker gives dough pieces their peculiar final shape

the antique wood oven produces homemade bread, that is cooked for about 2 hours

Focaccia is obtained with the same bread dough and it is cooked in the wood oven

A typical dish of peasant farmer tradition

In the past it was the only food for peasants and shepherds during the week in isolated farms. Their dish consisted of bread seasoned with salt and oil and dipped in boiling water

This is another local poor dish of farmer tradition: bread, tomatoes, onions, celery, oil and salt

Altamura bread is used to prepare also some cakes

Hand made pasta

A kind of dough made of water, salt and worked by hands

Making pasta at home was and is always satisfying.

It is boiled with wild or cultivated greens, tossed with energetic meat ragouts or cooked into soups

There are different kind of hand made pasta

Orecchiette –little ears(because of their shape)

Capunticapuntini (capuntidd)

Orecchiette with turnip tops, garlic and red pepper flakes.

Cavatelli with mushrooms and mashed fava beans

Dairy products

Our region is very rich in cheeses, produced by sheep and cow milk.

Types According to how a cheese is made, it can be : • FRESH: i.e. mozzarella, ricotta• SOFT: i.e. spicy ricotta• HARD: i.e pecorino 

Pecorino – sheep cheese

This is the “king” of the cheese. Few cheeses in the world can claim to have origins as old as those of Pecorino cheese. For over two thousands years, the sheep grazing freely in our countryside have produced the milk that goes to make this cheese

Steps in the production of this cheese

Scamorza Cheese It is a type of dried cheese. It has a soft texture, a white colour tending towards yellow. The flavour is delicate,

sweet with a milk-like freshness.

FRESH SCAMORZA AGED SCAMORZA

A worker is shaping the scamorza cheese

This cheese is very flexible so different shapes can be given.A worker is given a little pig shape as an old tradition

ricotta

Sheep and cow ricotta formed by milk whey. It has a sweet and delicate taste. It is used to prepare a lot of cakes.

An old recipe is : pasta with ricotta, seasoned with sugar, lemon and cinnamon

Ricotta marzotica

This kind of cheese is produced in March because the sheep's milk is flavoured. In this period the sheep eat some aromatic herbs.

It is used grated to flavour pasta with tomato sauce

Ricotta cheese is used to prepare delicious cakes

Spicy ricotta It is made by adding the salt; then the cheese is aged and moved from container to

container to remove liquid over several months. After months of ageing it has a pungent flavour and a light yellow colour. It is eaten with toasted bread and

tomatoes or with the pasta

Typical cakes

Cartellate Almond cakes

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