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Leaning over my plate, I inhale the heady aroma of tangy passata, crisp dough and freshly plucked basil. I muse that there is unlikely to be a more satisfying meal than a pizza you’ve prepared from scratch. Even better if it has been cooked in an authentic 16th century, olive wood-powered oven.
It’s this appetite for delicious food, for local produce and for cuisine that honours the traditions of the land that has brought me to Puglia.
Food is the beating heart of this part of the world, so to know Puglia is to know its cuisine.Credit: Stocksy
Located in Italy’s southern heel, bordering both the Adriatic and Ionian seas, each of Puglia’s six provinces is a mishmash of rolling hills, olive groves, sun-bleached beaches and postcard-perfect piazzas – and this “Pearl of southern Italy” is having a definite moment.
While not technically part of Puglia, the ancient city of Matera is just a stone’s throw away and high on the hit-list for visitors to the region. The third-oldest continually inhabited city in the world, this clifftop citadel has been inhabited for more than 9000 years. Composed of two Sassi (or districts), the UNESCO World Heritage Site is a mass of hundreds of cave dwellings, some of which were inhabited until as recently as the 1950s.
Get firsthand experience of time-travelling by checking into an actual cave in the oldest part of the Sassi. Sextant Le Grotte della Civita fuses primitive cave with modern-day luxe – think candlelit interiors, contemporary bathtubs and lavish breakfasts.
Leaving Matera behind, we drive a short distance from Puglia’s capital, Bari, to Masseria Calderisi, a five-star boutique hotel built in the 17th-century and surrounded by 10 hectares of olive groves, citrus and almond trees, herb gardens and vegetable beds. Residents can relax by the sun-drenched pool, explore the surrounding area on complimentary bicycles, or unwind at the terrace bar.
Continue south and you’ll soon hit one of Puglia’s “white towns”, the striking Ostuni. Perched high across three hills overlooking olive groves and the Adriatic, this city is packed with steep, narrow alleys that are perfect for getting lost in.
A real gem here is Paragon 700, a former palazzo converted into a hotel. An eclectic aesthetic has been applied to the 11 individually designed rooms, and the common areas showcase rotating exhibitions of international and local contemporary art. The property’s walled and colonnaded gardens are not only the largest in town, they’re also home to the historic centre’s only pool.
Food is the beating heart of this part of the world, so to know Puglia is to know its cuisine. You can experience this obsession in house at Restaurant 700, where a locally born chef pays homage to the region’s culinary traditions.
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