From Alberobello to the Best Cheeses in Puglia, Italy

Day 2 of our journey, and it’s market day in Martina Franca, but first we walk the perimeter of the old city. The markets are huge, but dominated by clothing and other assorted “fashion” items. If you are looking for the Farmer’s Markets head right through to the far side from the central Piazza.

We picked up some delicious local cheeses, Marzicota, Galbari Gorgonzola, and Burrata of course.

There are Farmer’s Markets every day in at least one of the local towns, so you won’t have to travel more than 20 minutes to find at least one market. (We checked the markets on Thursday at Alberobello, and they were smaller overall, but still worth a visit). The markets are the best way to see firsthand what the local artisans are producing, how the cheeses differ, what’s in season, and best of all, if you haven’t got access to visitations to the farms you can usually try their produce at the market.

After a lunch time spread of the goodies from the market, washed down with a glass of local Bambina Bianca, we head out on a trulli excellent adventure.

The trulli, the characteristic cone-roofed houses of Alberobello, make up one of the 50 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Italy.

A trullo is a traditional Apulian dry stone hut with a conical roof constructed with the abundant limestone from the plateau of Apu. Their style of construction is specific to the Itria Valley, in the Murghe area of the Italian region of Apulia. Trulli were generally constructed as temporary field shelters and storehouses or as permanent dwellings by small proprietors or agricultural labourers. In the town of Alberobello, in the province of Bari, whole districts are packed with trulli. The golden age of trulli was the 19th century, especially its final decades marked by the development of wine growing.

Then we moved on to Noci, yet another town with a beautiful piazza inside the old walled centre. There was more exploring and then it was on to meet another local food expert in Gioia del Colle, for another lesson in local history, dairy products, and where to find the best local cuisine.

Gioia del Colle is a little town in the heart of Puglia, strategically located halfway between the Ionian and Adriatic seas to the east and west, and between the cities of Bari and Taranto to the north and south.

Typical foods from the area include mozzarella cheese, for which Gioia is justly famous in producing some of the best-tasting varieties you will find, red and white wines, extra virgin olive oil, orechiette (small pasta shapes resembling little ears) and, believe it or not, pan-fried olives which have a taste not unlike aubergines!

Gioia is also the birthplace of the increasingly popular Primitivo wine. Local history records a 17th century Benedictine monk finding the first vines in the gardens of his monastery. Today, a host of small family-owned businesses harvest, bottle and sell their own excellent private Primitivo labels, many producing no more than 15,000 bottles a year.

Gioia also shares in the Puglian tradition of producing what is acknowledged to be some of the best olive oil in Italy, its quality attributed to the unique iron-rich soil of the land, the particular climate which sees dry summers and wet winters, and the long tradition of producing a product that unites advanced technology and equipment to centuries-old traditional methods of workmanship.

It’s late in the day, but we find time to accompany our host to one of the local cheese specialty shops, Masseria Cevello and come away with the most amazing selection of Burratas, spicy provolone, mozzarella, mozzarella stuffed with prosciutto, mozzarella rolls, hard cheese scamorza, and other delights.  Definitely coming back. Some of the best cheeses I have tasted.

Another wonderful day exploring Puglia.  We will be back in this region of Puglia tomorrow. We drive back to Martina Franca, feeling more like a local, and knowing our way around and through the most beautiful hilltop towns that dominate this wonderful region of Italy.