2. Appetizer: The «pittule
A dough made up of
water, flour, oil, brewer's
yeast, salt, then cooked in
hot oil, giving itself the
name pittule.
First course:
Parmigiana
Second dish: «Braciole»
Meat rolls in tomato sauce:
stuffed with cheese, celery,
onion, salt, pepper.
Side dish
It is called vegetable
crudité and is made up
of mixed vegetables that
can be eaten raw.
Fruit
We eat all seasonal
fruit, one in particular
from this season are
plums, similar to
plums, they can be of
three colors as in the
photo.
Dessert:
Mandorle ricce
A Typical Salento
meat menu
Made up of sliced fried
aubergines, ham, tomato
sauce mozzarella, plus
minced meat and cheese.
Called by the name
curly almonds, they
are made from
almonds and sugar,
originating from
Francavilla, a town
near here.
3. Pittule salentine
The origins of the «pittule» could be linked to the
emigrations from Albania during the 15th century.
As mythology tells it, during the night of Santa
Cecilia, the woman left the bread dough to rise for
too long because she was distracted by the music
of the bagpipes, that is, the Abruzzo shepherds
passing through the Apulian territories during the
ritual transhumance of the cattle. Upon returning
home, the woman realized that the dough was no
longer suitable for bread, she worked it into small
balls which she threw into the boiling oil. Thus
creating savory pittule but over time they also
become sweet.
4. Parmigiana
The term seems to derive from the Sicilian "parmiciana", from the
way of arranging the aubergine slices. Yet, the first historical
testimony of this dish is found in 1786 by a chef of Apulian origin
serving aristocratic families in Naples.
The prince of Francavilla was on holiday in Apulia and wanted to
invite some friends before returning to Naples, thus introducing
the local chef, who had already worked hard the previous days to
create the menus that could best present the flavors of his Earth.
But the chef has one last stroke of genius: a dish made with
aubergines, tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
5. Involtini di carne alla salsa di pomodoro:
The brasciole are meat rolls of medium-large
size (10–15 cm), prepared with slices of
horse stuffed with lard and pecorino and
cooked in the sauce for about 4 hours.
In the Apulian tradition it is customary to
prepare this dish on festive days, cooking
them in a ragù with which to season the
equally traditional dishes with a first course,
"orecchiette". In Salento they are a typical
Sunday lunch dish.
6. Mandorle ricce
Its tradition was born in Francavilla from a civilian
who, working hot toasted almonds in a large copper
pan called conca, noticed that slowly by adding
sugar they became white. Under the basin there is
a brazier of holm oak coals which releases the right
calorie from the beginning to the end of the work.
Using a wavy movement, the almonds and sugar
are always mixed, overlapping and rubbing each
other, giving the outside a white, curly appearance.
7. A Typical Salento
fish menu
Appetizer:
The octopus salad
First course:
Pasta with mussels
Second dish:
Spigola al sale
Side: Grilled vegetables
Fruit: Fichi d’India
Dessert:
Sospiri salentini
A seafood dish
consisting of
octopus cooked in
boiling water,
potatoes, celery,
carrots, oil, salt,
pepper.
a typical
Mediterranean
crustacean.
Sea bass in salt, so
called because it is
cooked in the oven
covered with salt.
Simple and mixed
vegetables cooked on
the grill and enriched
with oil, vinegar, mint,
salt.
It is a fruit that is
eaten in summer,
there are three
colors: yellow,
red, orange, and
it has a fresh
flavour.
Called sighs for their
soft consistency and
they are filled with
Chantilly cream.
8. Insalata di polpo:
Octopus with potatoes, or octopus and potato salad, is a
second fish dish also ideal as an appetizer, typical of Italian
cuisine. It is a warm salad based on octopus previously boiled
and subsequently enriched with boiled potatoes in chunks and
seasoned with oil, salt, parsley and lemon.
Our Bōlpo has its roots in this historical recipe and makes it
even more delicious thanks to the olives, green beans and basil
pesto cream. Ingredients typical of the Ligurian tradition but
widely spread throughout our beautiful country. The
Mediterranean Sea is the natural habitat par excellence of the
octopus. A vase from 1450 – 1400 BC. found in Crete depicted
tentacles over the entire surface of the object,
like a mosaic from the excavations of Pompeii they see an
octopus depicted at the center of the entire scene. This delight
of the sea has therefore delighted the palates of all of us for
over 2,000 years.
9. The original recipe includes, as ingredients,
local black mussels, tomato puree or fresh tomatoes,
garlic, parsley and pepper. No salt and no chilli. And
then, another important detail, Brindisi mussels must
be opened strictly "cold", when they are still raw,
preserving and filtering some of their water. With a
few shelled mussels, the sauté is then prepared
together with the garlic and parsley, the tomato is
added and finally the remaining shelled mussels and
a little of their water: a few shells, at most, can
remain for aesthetic reasons. Final touch, black
pepper and chopped parsley.
Pasta con le cozze:
10. Spigola al sale
This dish is frequently used during holidays or
weekends to prepare a very good and quick
second course, traces of this practice have been
found in archaeological excavations along the
banks of the Nile, in central Sudan. For the
populations who lived in those places, freshwater
fish represented 90% of their diet and, obviously,
they faced the problem of conserving it
11. Fichi d’India
The prickly pear is a plant native to Mexico, where it was
cultivated and venerated by the ancient Aztecs. According
to a legend, it was Christopher Columbus who brought the
first seeds of this fruit to Europe, after his second voyage
to the New World in 1493. They subsequently arrived in
Italy in Salento where it proved to be a perfect
environment for growing them, thus consuming them also
in our daily dishes .
12. Sospiri salentini
According to a very popular legend in Puglia, the sispiri
also called the nuns' breasts were prepared for the first
time by the cloistered nuns of Bisceglie. The goal was to
create a completely new dessert in honor of a couple's
wedding. In fact, the desserts were created, but the
wedding was not celebrated in the end, because the
betrothed did not show up on the wedding day. And so it
was that the guests, to pass the time and sighing as much
as they could (hence the name sweet sighs), ate all the
sweets.