Apulia is a region little known to Americans but one well worth discovering for the gourmet traveler. Looking at a map of Italy, Apulia occupies the heel and spur of the Italian boot. Its sunny location provides the ideal conditions for the cultivation of superlative fruits, vegetables and viticulture. Apulian cuisine is healthy, based on homemade pastas and cheeses, fresh vegetables, seafood and local olive oil. Here you will discover dishes not found elsewhere such as favi e cicoria (fava bean puree), orecchiette (ear shaped pasta), and polipetti Baresi (baby octopus served with oil and lemon or spicy tomato sauce). The dishes are complimented by well-made Apulian wines such as Martina Franca and Castel del Monte.

You are invited to explore Apulia on a seven day culinary journey, learning to prepare its authentic dishes and enjoying all that the region has to offer. Your accommodations for the week are at a masseria (manor house) in the heart of the Apulian countryside and just a few kilometers from the sea. Built in the 18th century the whitewashed house is filled with family heirlooms and history. Each of the six bedrooms is named after the women of the family. All except one feature en-suite bathrooms.

Cooking lessons take place in the masseria kitchen where Rita, the lady of the house, will take you on a culinary journey into the history and heart of this fascinating region. Once a journalist whose specialty was agriculture and the environment, Rita now considers herself the heiress and guardian of tradition of a place where time and the frenetic rhythm of the city are distant and unknown. She now devotes herself to the study of Apulia's history and Southern identity..

Day One

UNA CENA IN UNA NOBILE FAMIGLIA DEI BORBONI

Transfer from the Bari airport to the manor house.

Time to relax and unpack before dinner.

Meet your hostess and guide for apertives and learn about the very complex recipes you will try tonight along with the culinary history of Apulia. The region was once a province of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and the recipes here are very similar to the ones of the Reign of the Borboni.

Tonight's dinner features dishes such as the one that Rita's great grandmother, Donna Ritella d’Erario Recchia, Baronessa diTolve, prepared for her guests.

Day Two

PANE, PASTA, FOCACCIA AND PANZAROTTI

Apulia was called the “Garden of the Reign”, because of the richness of fruit and vegetables, and it also was the most important reserve of producing durum wheat, such as the granary of Southern Italy.

And you know what “pasta and pane” still means for the Italian people.

After breakfast we'll pay a visit to Old Bari, the basilica of San Nicola and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Odegitria, the Piccinni house, a museum house where the musician Niccolò Piccinni was born in the 18th century. Then we go to the "Arco delle Meraviglie" which legend says was built in only one night to support the love affair between two lovers, and nearby we visit the old stone oven where pane di semola is still cooked.

To whet your palatte, enjoy a wine tasting in "La Puglia è servita", the association of Apulian wine producers and site of the "Movimento Italiano del turismo del vino".

Lunch in the narrow lane dell’Arco Basso, where women still make fresh pasta every day at every hour. There the women will demonstrate making fresh orecchiette which you will enjoy for lunch in one of the nearby private homes.

Come back home for a short rest.

In the afternoon cooking lesson featuring panzarotti, focaccia "calzone" and if you like, pizza.

Dinner with these things and more at the masseria.

Day Three

MANGIAFOGLIE AND MANGIAMACCHERONI

Mangiafoglie means our tradition of poor people that only have vegetables and pasta (maccheroni) to eat, not meat.

The cooking lesson starts after breakfast, going in the narrow streets of Mola, knocking on the doors of the farmers, who put on little chairs, outside the doors of their houses, the products that we need and that we ‘ll buy for the cooking lesson.

Then to the beach of San Vito, to relax with a lunch at the beach. In winter season it is possible instead to organize another excursion or morning free for shopping in Bari or in the outlet of Molfetta.

In the afternoon cooking class about pasta and vegetables and dinner in the masseria.

Day Four

TRULLI E MOZZARELLE

Early morning tour to Alberobello where you will enjoy a demonstration of mozzarelle, ricotta and fresh cheese making. This takes place in a traditional masseria, where they graze cows and sheep.

Then visit the charming villages of Alberobello, Locorotondo and Martina Franca. Lunch in Martina Franca.

In the afternoon you'll visit Ostuni and enjoy dinner in a typical Osteria of Ostuni.

Come back to masseria.

Day Five

ALLA CORTE DELL’IMPERATORE

From Magna Grecia to Fredric the 2nd , from Angevines to Aragon, from Turkish to Borbone dominations, Apulia is a country where different peoples, traditions and cultures produced a kaleidoscope that still remains in the architecture, landscapes, agriculture, and of course culinary traditions.

This day is dedicated to discovering how the region has been influenced by different civilizations.

After breakfast departure to Ruvo, where there is a wonderful Romanesque Cathedral and a singular little archilogical museum. Then on to Castel del Monte, the Castle of the Emperor Fredric the 2nd , and lunch in the charming town of Trani.

We will then travel along the coast Giovinazzo, stopping for dinner in a restaurant on the picturesque little harbour.

Day Six

PESCATO E MANGIATO

In the morning, if the sea is good, a boat tour of Polignano, with its breathtaking sea grottos, perhaps stopping for a swim in the pure water of Adriatic Sea. Lunch on the boat,  then visit the village of Polignano, with a stop for gelato.

Return to the masseria for a relaxing break.

In the afternoon we shall go to the fish market, just in front of the picturesque harbour of Mola, where we wait for fishing boats, as they come back full of fish.

Come back home for cooking class with typical fish recipes and “arrivederci” dinner.

Day Seven

After breakfast, morning transfer to the airport.