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Puglia Is Lovely (and the Tourists Don’t Know Yet)

by Zoe Strimpel
Sun, 13 Apr 2008

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Just back from Puglia, the bit of Italy nobody seems to know about. It's on the southeast, on the Adriatic, facing Albania. It has lovely clear water, (middling) beaches, a gorgeous culinary tradition, and almost equally gorgeous men and women.

I am glad it's underappreciated. There are few tourists (though the British Airways plane to Bari was loaded with elderly Brits), and for once, there is a sense of authenticity completely unmarred by self-consciousness. Chubby grannies are smiley and happy (and surprised) to have their pictures taken with the chairs on which they advertise their produce. A single fresh artichoke or lettuce set out on an unguarded seat heralds the freshest of veggies within, if you can find the right door to the right kitchen.

On day one, a nonna tried to teach us to make orrichiette pasta and quickly became frustrated by our inability to press, slide, and flip the dough just so. Orrichiette means "little ears," but our "ears" looked more like flimsy saucers. Later that night at a farmhouse filled with hidden altars and ancient music stands topped with Renaissance scores, Rita, the proprietress, cooked us horsemeat ragu, several fresh foccacias, soft-baked bread pies filled with pancetta and cheese (it is easy to see where the calzone comes from — though it is a very different, more cumbrous beast in the pizza joints of New England and New York), and fish roasted with potatoes layered in terracotta pots. Rita was appalled and offended when we pleaded with her not to get up at 4 a.m. to bake fresh biscotti for our breakfast. We made do with fritatta with mint and courgette, and warmed local cheese.

The fact that nobody knows about it is the region's great quality but also a frustration to the woman who is driving the Welcome to Puglia tourist association, Caroline Edwards, trying to push the glories of the region farther afield. "It's an uphill battle," she said. But a few more trips like this, and Ms. Edwards will be laughing.

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