Regional gastronomy is fundamentally linked to two factors: its geographical shape and its historical affairs. In the case of Puglia, the flatness of the region and its extensive coastline has led the inhabitants to animal breeding, fishing, wheat, grape and vegetable cultivation, as well as to plant fruit and olive trees. Obviously the gastronomic culture that has emerged is based on these products. Given the huge quantity of wheat produced, Apulian cookery has always been based on flour, especially on pasta and bread, the latter is certainly the most consumed food. Made from plain flour or bran in the widest variety of shapes, the bread relates the tradition and life of the Apulian people. Just think of the frisedde, which sometimes are the countryman's only foods. In the context of Italian customs, such a use of flour could only lead to the production of fresh pasta (the famous Apulian orecchiette but also strascenate, chiancarelle, troccoli and so on). Obviously for their preparation, a whole range of sauces based on local products have also emerged, both from land and sea produce. The abundance of the latter especially, has favoured the creation of dishes based on blue fish, crustaceans and mollusks, some traditionally eaten raw. Animal breeding, mainly of sheep, has led to the traditional simple cuisine (skewered meat) or more elaborate, like the gnemerìidde based on lamb's innards. Animal rearing also led to dairy farming and the production of milk products and cheese from the cow (mozzarella and fiordilatte) and sheep (ricotta, "strong ricotta", cacioricotta). Last, but not least, an important element of Apulian food is the sweets, above all connected with religious occasions, (pèttue or zèppole, taralli, cartellate). The typical cookery of Trani and district is inserted in this regional context: "country" cookery where vegetables and countryside herbs have pride of place, the fragrance of the cold pressed olive oil, the intense aroma of Mediterranean spices, the tastiness of the Adriatic fish and the meats from the pastures of the Murges. It is a sober, wholesome and simple world, but good and appetizing, which is well worth exploring.

Let's run through the range of these really extraordinary dishes: salted black olives and santagostino olives accompanied by taralli baked with fennel seeds. Bread flavoured with oregano, tomato, olive oil and a pinch of salt. Marinated fried anchovies, or arecanate. Shellfish tossed in olive oil and white wine or dressed in grated bread, calzone (a kind of savoury flan stuffed with anchovies, onions, raisins and olive), broad bean purée and wild chicory sprinkled liberally with cold-pressed olive oil. Strascinate and turnip tops, cavatelli and sliced beans cooked in the traditional pignata an earthenware container for the hearth, chick pea soup and stale bread. Peas with cheese, tomatoes and baked bucatini, zitoni in ragout sauce and mature ricotta with brasciola (horsemeat roulade), a tureen of baked pasta. Lamb, potatoes and cardoncelli mushrooms from the Murges, mixed grills of meat from the Murges pastureland, gnemerìidde (roulades of lamb's innards) and sausage roasted on embers. Stuffed squid, baked dentex with olives, fried dried and salted cod with tomatoes and olives, baked onions, local sliced beans, olive oil, lemon and pepper. Wild onions, courgette flowers and fried cauliflower; wild asparagus, country herbs (chicory, charlock, and herbs known locally as sivoni, and cimarelle) in lemon juice, small mozzarella cheeses, burrata, scamorze and caciocavallo cheeses. Almond pastries, sweets with marzipan, rose and cartellatemade with mulled wine and honey, mostaccioli, and the very soft sospiri. All these God-given gifts are washed down with full-bodied wines, including the outstanding Castel del Monte Doc (white, rosé and red), the formidable Castel del Monte Reserve, the Trani Doc Muscat (in the natural sweet and raisin wine versions), and the excellent sparkling wines made from the aromatic white wines produced in the area. To complete the extraordinary range of good food and drink is the traditional hospitality of the people of this magnificent land.

The burrata
A special fresh fondant cheese, it is a very thin roulade of pasta with a trickle of cow's milk filled with unraveled mozzarella, also from cow's milk and fresh cream. The roulade is traditionally wrapped in green asphodel leaves. The burrata should be eaten fresh, since it has a very delicate sweet flavour with a slightly sour aftertaste. It was invented by the Andria man Lorenzo Bianchino Chiappa in the 1920s in a masseria where the manteche were produced (a kind of fondant lightly matured cheese filled with butter). He had the idea of creating a kind of "flask" of fondant cheese containing the cream and the unraveled mozzarella (called stracciatella). The idea was a great success and led to constant production - at that time homemade -with a procedure that has remained identical over the years, even though today modern technology lends a hand.

The cardoncello mushroom
Pleurotus eryngji, this is the scientific name for the cardoncello found in the Murges, its ideal habitat. A brown colour with a fleshy texture, it comes out in the autumn, in general near wild thistles, on the bleak, wild hills of the Apulian land. Its pleasant, delicate flavour provides the maximum versatility in the kitchen and allows interesting gastronomic combinations. It can be eaten raw, roasted over embers, fried, grated, sliced and cooked in olive oil, with pasta and rice, together with meat dishes, fish legumes and vegetables.

Extra-virgin olive oil
The rite of olive growing and oil milling is cyclically renewed as over the centuries in November, when the grindstones, so patiently awaited for a whole year, begin to turn to crush the fruit. Then the air fills with the fragrance of olive oil. It is dense, golden, with a persistent aroma clearly recognizable as olive, with a hint of moss, herbs and bitter fruit. The countryman who has lovingly followed all the growing and collecting phases - including the pruning and spring flowering up to the harvest - is also there at the transformation phase. With his sagacity and natural phlegm, scrutinizes the rivulets of olive oil running over the glazed stone, decanting in a natural way.

The lampascione
These are the bulbs of a plant with a lovely purple flower growing spontaneously on uncultivated ground and on ploughed fallow land of the Murges. They are collected in the summer and autumn and are characterized by their slightly bitter flavour. To sweeten them, before consumption, it is better to boil them and leave them to stand in fresh water for some days, changing the water often. They are excellent served with olive oil and salt as a side plate for roast lamb or rabbit.

WINE PRODUCTION
Fine red, rosé and white wines are produced Puglia and recently also excellent sparkling wines, using classic methods. Among the many the following are mentioned: Ostuni white, the highly prized and rare Verdeca di Gravina; the Salento rosé; the Cerignola and Squinzano red, the Mandria primitivo (a very strong, full-bodied wine), Castellana Grotte and Putignano (ruby red wine with a generous taste).

Locorotondo
Area of Production: the Locorotondo and Cisternino districts, and part of the Fasano area. Characteristics: pale straw colour with greenish reflection; crystalline appearance. Typical bouquet, delicate, very pleasant, slightly fruity. Dry flavour, very smooth, subtle, mild, with a fresh content. Strength 11°. Accompanying food: excellent as an aperitif and to accompany cold starters; ideal for all fish and crustacean dishes, mussel soups and other Apulian soup dishes.

Castel Del Monte
Area of Production: Minervino Murge district and partly around Andria, Corato, Trani, Ruvo di Puglia and others. Characteristics of the rosé: a light ruby red; crystalline appearance. Elegant bouquet and delicate vinosity, decidedly particular fruity component. Flavour: dry, velvety, balanced freshness, mild, subtle, delicate texture; a classy wine. trength. 11.5°. Accompanying food: a smooth, refined accompaniment to pressed pork meats, stewed fish, roasted white meat or red meats in a delicate sauce, excellent with mushrooms and fried vegetables. Characteristics of the red: ruby red colour tending to carnet and orange with a very bright appearance. Bouquet with vinous component, pleasant and delicate, with characteristic bouquet, almost aromatic. Flavour dry, soft and smooth: it is warm and fruity and freshtasting. Strength 12°. Accompanying food: excellent accompaniment for white and red meats without important sauces, roast rabbit, horsemeat roulades etc.

San Severo red
Area of Production: land around San Severo, Torremaggiore, San Paolo Civitate Apricena, Lucera, Poggio Imperiale and Lesina districts. Characteristics: ruby red, tending to brick red after ageing; brilliant appearance. Bouquet vinous with pleasantly intense aroma not without finesse. Flavour dry, fresh, mild, full, harmonious. Strength. 11.5°. Accompanying food: ideal accompaniment for such regional meat dishes as roast lamb or kid, grilled meats, rabbit ragout or rabbit alla contadina, etc.

Moscato di Trani
Area of Production: northern area of the Province of Bari and part of the land around Cerignola and Trinitapoli, in the Province of Foggia. Characteristics: golden yellow; intense bouquet, characteristic aroma; Flavour: sweet, velvety. Strength: min. 14.5°. Variations deriving from wine making practices: "Liqueur-like" with a minimum strength of 18% and 12 months maturing. Accompanying food: dry pastries, custard sweets. Recommended serving temperature: 10-12° C.