My 10 Favorite Italian Foods

It's Monday Listicles time again and this week, Stasha over at The Good Life wants to know about 10 foods. Foods we like, foods we don't like, foods that make us happy . . . or not. Anything about food is fair game.

I thought I'd write about 10 Italian foods/drinks that come to mind.
Some are specifically foods from Puglia, the region of southern Italy I live in, others not.
Some I like, others NOT.

1. Espresso coffee

Like, like, very big like! I do not like any other coffee in the world, only Italian espresso.

2. Fioroni

Love, love, love! I love these so much I even wrote an article about them, called Fioroni, Fruit of the Gods.

3. Orecchiette con Cime di Rape

This ear-shaped pasta served with rabe broccoli is divine. This dish is a love for me, but I can't eat it because of the gluten in the pasta . . .

4. Gelato

Italian ice-cream is so scrumptious. I'm not sure how it differs from regular old ice-cream, but it differs, it differs! I had been unable to eat gelato since finding out I am lactose-intolerant, but just last week I discovered a gelateria (ice-cream shop) that sells a wide selection of flavors that are both gluten and lactose-free. Halleluiah!

5. Focaccia

Kinda like a pizza, but with a thicker dough and no mozzarella on top. Heavenly, but a no-no for me because of the gluten.

6. Martini Bianco

My favorite brand of vermouth. I strongly associate it with hanging out at the cafè with friends and enjoying an aperitvo (see number 7).

7. Aperitivo

An aperitivo is a before-lunch snack you order at a cafè. Ideally it's a few peanuts, olives and potato chips to nibble on with a soda or an alcoholic drink, as you prefer. However, at many cafès the aperitivo has become so elaborate, including tartines, mini-sandwiches and more, that you forget all about lunch. 

This is a like, a definite like!

8. Raw Mollusks

These are absolutely the favorite food of most people I know here. The mollusks are locally fished, so you know they are fresh, and include mussels, clams, hedgehog sea urchins, date mussels (the long, thin ones - which it is illegal and an ecological disaster to fish...I googled for this photo, so don't sue me!), and those scary-looking red things that look like a tongue and move around on your plate before and while you are eating them because they are alive . . . they are all alive, you know?

This is a big no thank you for me. I know they're fresh, I know they are aphrodisiacal, I know "everyone" likes them, but not me!

9. Taralli

These are a popular local snack food. They are hard like a pretzel, but not quite that hard and not salted. Hard to describe, but good . . . best enjoyed with a nice red wine before your meal. 

10. Olive Oil

I can't leave out olive oil. It's not really a food on its own, but it flavors all Puglian savory dishes. We make our own from the olives grown on the trees out in my yard. Were you wondering why this blog is called "Amid the Olive Trees"?

To read more fun food lists, or to add your own list, head on over to The Good Life.

Puglian Pleasures

Here's a roundup of recent articles I have written about the beautiful Puglia region. To read the full articles, click on the links below, or go directly to Charming Italy.

Discover a couple of fascinating summer festivals off the beaten track in 

Summer Festivals in Puglia

Try your hand at a light, typically Puglian summer pasta dish

Spaghetti with Green Beans, Tomatoes and Seasoned Ricotta Cheese

Are you brave enough to face Dante's Inferno in the bowels of the earth?

Don't miss the incredible show Hell in the Cave

If all you really want is fun in the sun, look no further than

The Tremiti Islands

There is so much natural beauty and so much of interest in this fantastic region!

'Tis the Season

I have to share a secret with you . . . shhh, don't tell anyone, it's actually quite embarrassing . . . but when I first arrived in Italy, I had no idea that vegetables had a season. I know, pretty pitiful. And, I was an adult when I moved here. Like 28. Not a clueless little child or an irresponsible teen, but a grownup who had been cooking for herself for years. 

So, what was wrong with me? Obviously, a large part of it was that I wasn't paying any attention whatsoever to the natural rhythms of the earth . . . and all that. I have always been a city girl. The kind who thinks milk creates itself spontaneously in a cartoon and that eggs come from the egg factory.

Well, not really that bad, but almost.

The fact of the matter is that having grown up in the US, I was accustomed to going to the supermarket and buying just about whatever fruits or vegetables my heart desired at whatever time of the year that urge hit me. If it wasn't in season in my area, it was surely in season somewhere else in the world and had been shipped in for my convenience.

When I first arrived in this small provincial city in southern Italy some 20 years ago, there were no large supermarkets. At all. None. Oh, they had places they called "supermarkets," but there was very little "super" about them. They were tiny little claustrophobic spaces with three, maybe four, overcrowded lanes you could barely push your child's toy of a cart through . . . and a very limited selection of produce.

The place to buy your veggies here is at the fruttivendola, your greengrocer. These can range from a smallish hole in the wall to a chair outside someone's front door on which they have set the offerings from their plot of land out in the countryside.

No genetically modified food here!

When you see a set-up like this, you know that food is fresh! Fresh, yes, but it's a rather limited selection. If your heart's desire is asparagus, but asparagus season has passed, you're just out of luck, aren't you?

That's why I have learned to cook with what's in season. It makes more sense to eat what's locally available, freshly picked from the fields, anyway. Better for you, too, I'm sure.

So, what's in season here in Puglia right now? Green beans! I've got a fast and easy pasta recipe for you over on Charming Italy. All you need to do is throw some green beans, cherry tomatoes and seasoned ricotta onto your spaghetti and you'll have yourself a fresh, light and delicious Italian meal.

Try it and let me know what you think, ok?

Discover Puglia

Explore some more unique and fascinating corners of Puglia. Read my recent articles at Charming Italy . . . 

Discovering Puglia: the city of Otranto

Lurking behind the pleasures of sea and sun, lies a history of tragic violence!

Or enjoy the thrill of the magical atmosphere of Castel Del Monte . . . 

. . . where every corner hides mystery and symbolism.

Puglian Passion

I have written several articles for the site Charming Italy about things to see and do in Puglia over the past few months. Here are a few of my most recent reports (just click on the words highlighted in red to link to the full article):

Fioroni, Fruit of the Gods - If you've never heard of fioroni, you don't know what you are missing!

Figs aren't your thing? Why not try some local Railroad Cherries?

Looking for the perfect summer holiday spot? Why not visit Vieste?

Or combine your love of nature with a day at the beach at the Torre Guaceto Nature Preserve . . .

Puglia is a beautiful region, I'm it's #1 fan!

Top 5 Puglian Recipes

Italian cuisine is famous around the world for simple, fresh ingredients and lovingly prepared home-cooked meals. But did you know that what you consider "Italian" food might only be one version, eaten in only one particular area of the country? Regional variety is what makes the Italian take on the Mediterranean diet even more exciting. While you can get pizza from the tip to the toe of the peninsula, the local definition of "pizza" may vary from place to place.

Wondering what we eat down here in the heel of the boot? In an article for Charming Italy I choose the 5 recipes I think most clearly identify Puglian cooking and give you the recipes!

Orecchiette con le cime di rape (Orecchiette Pasta with Rabe Broccoli)

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• Patate, riso e cozze (Potatoes, Rice and Mussels)
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• Braciole (Meat Rolls in Tomato Sauce)
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• Fave e cicorie (Fava Bean Puree and Chicory Greens)
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• Bari Focaccia (Pizza Bread)
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Follow this link to discover all  the recipes in my article! 

Chiacchiere - A Carnival Treat

One of the things I love about Italy is how every holiday has its traditional sweet. I have a real sweet tooth and love to eat any kind of cake, cookies, candies, you name it! That's gotten a lot harder since I discovered that I'm intolerant to both gluten and lactose. There are some commercial products available without those ingredients, but for the most part I think they're pretty blah, taste-wise. So, if I want something sweet, I pretty much have to make it myself.

Luckily there are lots of sites on the Internet offering recipes for people with dietary limitations (see my sidebar for some I love). But, it's not always easy to reproduce my Italian holiday favs. As it's Carnival season I've been craving the light, crispy, sugar-coated delights called "Chiacchere." Well, they're called chiacchiere down here in the heel of the boot, in other areas they have all kinds of different names. 

I got lucky and found a great gluten and lactose-free chiacchiere recipe and thought I'd share it with you.

First of all, for any of you who don't know what "Chiacchiere" are, take a look at these yummy creations . . .

Photo from Flickr

Ingredients:

• 300 gr gluten-free flour 
• 60 gr sugar
• 2 large eggs 
• 25 gr vegetable margarine
• 1/2 glass of liqueur (for example: Martini bianco) 
• Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Sift the flour and add the sugar, eggs, softened margarine, and liqueur.

2. Blend well until the dough is smooth and compact. Add more flour if necessary.

3. Wrap in a soft cloth (a clean, dry dish towel will do fine) and set aside to rise for about 30 minutes.

4. Roll a section of the dough out to a thin layer, then use a pastry wheel to cut it into the shapes you desire. (I found my dough to be a bit sticky. It helped to roll it out on floured waxed paper.)

5. Fry the pieces of dough in plentiful hot oil. Be careful not to let the oil get too hot, or the chiacchiere will darken too quickly.

6. When golden, lift the chiacchiere out of the oil with a slotted spoon and lay them on blotting paper to absorb the excess oil.

7. Finally arrange them on a serving dish and sprinkle with powered sugar.

8. Enjoy!

For more info on chiacchiere read my article at Charming Italy.

By the way, besides being the name for these delicious sweets, "chiacchiere" means "chit-chat" or "small talk" in Italian!

Photo from Flickr

Valentine's Day in Puglia

Looking for a different way to celebrate Valentine's Day with your sweetie? Check out the festivities in Vico del Gargano, a lovely medieval town overlooking the Adriatic Sea, where Saint Valentine himself is the patron saint and the town goes all out to celebrate this special day.

Kissing Alley

Read all about the town that even has a special street dedicated to kissing in my article at Charming Italy!

How romantic can you get?

Alberobello

When my parents were visiting last fall, we took them to a different spot for sightseeing each weekend. I shared the photos from Canne della Battaglia with you at the time, but nothing else, so I thought I'd take you on an occasional tour around Puglia.

One of the most interesting sites in our region is the small town of Alberobello, the trullo town.

All of the houses in the historic center of this little fairy-tale town have these unique cone-shaped roofs, called trullos.

Many of them have pagan or magical signs whitewashed onto them. There are lots of theories about the meanings of these symbols - and, of course, the locals will sell you books explaining them - but really the origins of the symbols are lost in the mists of time.

What is also a mystery is why, indeed, this particular style of construction developed here, and only here. It is not found anywhere else in the world, except for those places where people from here have built themselves a trullo, perhaps to remind themselves of home.

Legend has it that due to a high tax on property back in the Middle Ages, the people of the Itria Valley created these roofs of limestone slabs piled one atop the other without any mortar holding them together so that they could be dismantled when tax inspectors were in the area. Apparently, the townsfolk were taxed per roof . . . no roof, no tax.

People were smaller back then, right?

Do you believe in magic?

There's even a trullo church!

Alberobello makes a great day trip if you are in the area. There are lots of shops selling local crafts, such as miniature ceramic trullos or beautiful handmade crocheted linens. Don't forget to sneak down the side streets, too, where you can see how the townspeople really live their lives in this fairy-tale town.

Discover Puglia

Seems like all I do these days is write, translate or take care of business on-line. Even when I'm relaxing, I find myself in front of the pc screen either watching tv (isn't streaming wonderful for the ex-pat?) or obsessively entering giveaways! Feels like my portable is permanently attached to me at the wrists!

I have been enjoying myself recently, I must admit, writing articles about the Puglia region for Charming Italy. I've always been one of those "gosh, I'd like to be a writer types" (probably like many other people who love to read), but I've never felt the urgency of a topic I really wanted to express myself on nor a talent for fiction. Instead, writing about Puglia is great fun for me and just comes naturally. I know lots about this area after living here for 18 years (wow, has it really been that long?) and I have lots of ideas about interesting things to share with others.

Hop on over to Charming Italy and take a look at what this region (and others!) have to offer.

Have you heard of the Bari International Film & TV Festival?

It's not too late to enjoy this year's Carnival in Puglia!

An evening of feasting and bonfires at the Feast of Saint Anthony.

Discover Puglian Christmas culinary traditions.