An Introduction to Puglia Course
Spend the day in the kitchen and wine collection with the food, wine and extra virgin olive oil expert (‘The pioneer of teaching food and wine in Puglia’- The New York Times).
Learn what to order where and when during your trip.
Learn to eat and drink (and make pasta) as if you were born here.
Our Introduction to Puglia
In this class you’ll:
- Take a walking tour of the historic centre of Lecce, the city’s sculpture and world-famous architecture explained in historical context
- Visit the city’s oldest market, learning to focus on what is special, geographically, culturally, seasonally. Meet all our trusted vendors, learning from each of them
- Gain market skills, tricks and tips and language, of how to order in Italian
- Spend some artisanal time with your own hands, learning to make 3 different historically-relevant pasta shapes and sauces from Puglia. Making fresh pasta from scratch, a skill that you’ll likely use of the rest of your life
- Learn to understand why the food and wine of Puglia are so nationally famous (Puglia is Italy’s most popular holiday destination). The food of Italy is always about making the ingredients sing, in Puglia even more. You’ll almost forget how healthy it is as well
- Prepare 5 local Mediterranean side-dishes, each dripping with high-quality extra virgin olive oil
- Critically taste 3 high quality extra virgin olive oils from Puglia
- Critically taste 4 wines from the length of Puglia, (then poured liberally during lunch). A white, a pink, two reds and a dessert wine
- Revel in a two hour feast with fellow students from all over the world, the conversation stimulating, all your questions answered
- Learn about the history of amari (Italy’s after dinner drinks). Guided tasting of 3 and then be given an empty 4th glass to visit what must be Southern Italy’s largest private amaro bar
- Gain access to all the recipes, tips and tricks and all of our password protected content, not just for the class but all of our classes. In that email we also include all the other students’ emails so that you can keep in touch and meet up all around the world (when you do send an email with pictures). And include the password to our Spotify playlist (everyone asks for it)
Logistics at Glance for An Introduction to Puglia Class
When: Usually Tuesday and Thursdays, or upon request. See calendar
Length of course: From 10:00 to around 16:00- 17:00
Taught in: English
Who is the teacher? Our owner has been teaching the food, wine and olive oil of the Puglia to students from 59 countries for the last 22 years. He is a sommelier of wine (AIS) and a sommelier of extra virgin olive oil (FIS) and has been a professional wine writer for magazines since 2010. He also lectures on behalf of the region of Puglia and annually teaches university classes in Italy
Cost: 175 Euro per person (View Cooking Class Calendar)
Parking: Via Adua (see map below)
Meeting point: Under the column in Piazza Sant Oronzo (Lecce’s main piazza—see map below)
Walking: You’ll walk about 4,000 steps and need to stand about two hours in the kitchen
Diet restrictions: Due to the complexity of serving three different pastas, we cannot offer gluten free pasta for this class
FAQ For An Introduction to Puglia Course
Q: Is this a vegan course?
A: Yes and no. This course is an introduction to many of the traditional foods, wines and olive oils of Puglia. Many of them happen to be plant-based. The concept of, ’vegan’, tends to be a rejection of animal-based products, while Mediterranean dishes are often a celebration of a fruit or vegetable coming into season. It’s a subtle difference but one is repudiation of certain foods, the other is a celebration of things that come from the earth, when they are at their best. We do include grating cheese for those that want it on the three pastas.
Q: Does Puglia also produce olive oil? I thought most Italian oil was from Tuscany?
A: Each year Puglia produces between 45 and 55% of the national production of olive oil (Tuscany produces only about 4%). You’ll learn to critically taste three different extra virgin olive oils, from 3 different historic cultivars of olives. For many, the true taste of well-made extra virgin olive oil is startling.
Q: How many of the wines for this class are based on primitivo?
A: 80% of primitivo is exported each year. And this has always been true. This is why primitivo is synonymous with the wine of Puglia internationally but isn’t, domestically nor even regionally. Puglia is actually divided by 4 red wine grapes and very little if any of the non-local wine is consumed outside of its quadrant. There are actually dizzying amount of autoctonnous (indigenous) grapes here, with the emphasis moving away from red towards whites and pinks (nationally, since 2013).
Q: Is parking an issue?
A: Nearly 100% of those that arrive late underestimate European parking and start their mornings in a panic. We have a map of the best place to work in the city but consider arriving in Lecce and then have your morning coffee, here in the same piazza where we meet. Or take the local train to Lecce, even if you have a car (this makes more sense when you consider how freely the wine flows with meals with us). Arrive early, follow our advice and parking will quickly become a non-issue.
Q: Where are the wines sourced for this course?
A: Puglia produces more wine than all of Australia. There is an embarrassment of choice. For our normal courses all of our wines come from less than 25 kilometers from the school, made from grapes that have been here for at least 300 years. As this course is an introduction to the region of Puglia, several of these wines are from much further away than our normal guidelines for sourcing. Many on these courses find their favorite ‘new’ wines.
To Logistics at Glance for Introduction to Puglia Class
