ITALIAN JOURNEY- PROGRAMME 1

LECCE- TRADITIONAL DISHES

Lecce is situated in the Apuglia region, which forms the heel of Italian ‘boot’. It is very popular with Italians as a summer holiday destination: attractive because of its hot climate, and also because of its delicious cooking. The land is fertile, and local dishes are among the most sought after in Italy.

Carlo Sozzo, an expert on the local gastronomy, is going to introduce Gabriella to the flavours and colours of his native Apuglia.

Carlo Sozzo: Here we go! Now…this is our local rose…

Gabriella: Shall we try it now?

Carlo Sozzo: …and of course it’s from the Salentine Peninsula…it’ll go well with what we’re eating.

Gabriella: Shall we have a toast?

Carlo Sozzo: Cheers!

Gabriella:  To our good health!

Carlo Sozzo: And to the good health of the Salento!

Waitress: Here is the peperonata.

Gabriella:  Oh at last! Shall I dish it out?

Carlo Sozzo: Yes please.

Gabriella: It smells wonderful! Tell me, is your cooking here in Apuglia based on working class recipes? Are the methods you use derived from a peasant tradition?

Carlo Sozzo: Yes our cooking, and especially here in the Salento, can be described as ‘working class’. What I mean by that is that the people who created these recipes were peasants, poor people who couldn’t buy expensive ingredients, and who therefore based their cooking on whatever produce they could lay their hands on. They used seasonal produce they cultivated and picked themselves, for example peppers, aubergines, courgettes, potatoes, or tomatoes.

Gabriella: Isn’t it also true that the Apuglia region has always been an unsettled land? Having been invaded so many times there must have been other influences, coming from other places, that played an important part in its culinary traditions?

Carlo Sozzo: Well of course! All the different people who’ve been through here have influenced our cooking. For example; ‘cicera e tria’, pasta with chick peas, that’s an Arab dish. But it’s not only the Arabs: a lot of other cultures have come through here and left us traces of their customs –not just the people who invaded us.

Gabriella: So basically all these different people have influenced your cooking?

Carlo Sozzo: They certainly have. They have all been very influential.

Gabriella: And the food is delicious!

Waitress:  Here are the orechiette.

Carlo Sozzo: Now that’s a seasonal dish!

Gabriella: I can really taste all the flavours: the tomato, the aubergine, and the oil- olive oil, which I presume is a basic ingredient of all your dishes?

Carlo Sozzo: You’re right, it’s at the source of all Mediterranean cooking. It’s our strong point. Oil is the reason why, to this day, we are able to cook such good, wholesome meals.

Gabriella: And this dish really is delicious!