Tasting . . .

the bread, the wine, the olives and olive oil . . . the tomatoes, the fruits, the vegetables, the cheeses . . . it is all so good! Why? It is grown locally, sold only in season, and brought right from the soil or the trees to the markets. Every flavor is heightened in taste. When compared to what we have gotten used to in America, unless you are lucky enough to eat something grown in the old-fashioned way (from a backyard garden), the taste and flavors are often absent. Here, we have growers and producers who found the costs for mass-production were less when they learned the secrets to longevity and consistent quality. What are those secrets? It means the produce is taken from the vine, tree, or ground usually before it is ripe, where it remains in a warehouse for a significant time until it is then brought to the grocery store nearby you. Ah, fresh you say? It also means that the very plant or seed is the one which gives the most consistency to the actual crop which is grown . . . the reddest apple, the prettiest skin on the fruit, the most disease-resistent tree or plant, etc. Sometimes, the very thing which makes the crop so perfect for the growers to produce in larger quantities, for less cost, is what makes the crop so lackluster to the consumer. Where did the taste go?

In Puglia, the produce is taken right from the ground, the vine, or the tree and brought to the smaller vendors who often are selling it on a street corner or in one of the shops on almost every street or block in town. The olives are brought to the neighborhood factory directly after picking, loaded up on a small tractor or truck, and placed right onto a belt which begins the processing. You cannot get much more fresh than that!! It's the same with the grapes, wine and other such products, which are grown locally; that is the habit of all the little towns dotting the map in Puglia. The fragrance of the bread baking in the local shops is enough to set your heart racing, like a cloud of flavor wafting through the air just outside the bakery! Truly everything you eat has the most intense flavor and is the freshest tasting you can imagine, because it comes right to you, directly from the fields nearby. In Puglia, you can walk into one of many cheese shops and watch the cheesemaker form the fresh, most creamy mozzarella balls right there. The quality is assured by watching the producers as they work in the shops and out in the fields nearby for yourself.

Ahhh, enough of my little tutorial on the benefits of local versus mass-produced for quality, taste and price benefits. Let me just assure you from my own experience . . . I have never tasted tomatoes and the seasonal fruits I enjoy like I have tasted in Italy! Specifically, when I visit the towns in my beloved Puglia, my mouth bursts with the flavor awakening all of my senses. Possibly you have not realized how deprived your senses have become, but I can assure you, they are! When you eat the simple way like the Italians, using the seasonal crops, often just making the one or two ingredients used for each dish taste like intricate layers of flavor . . . you realize that you have in fact been cheated by our growers, supermarkets, producers of ready-made food items and restauranteurs alike. It's the simplicity of growing things in fields rich with organic material, limiting the processing which robs them of taste, and making the concerted effort to offer unique items specific to each region which are found prolifically.

We hope to bring you the tastes and textures of all of Puglia . . . including these treasures I have mentioned. Stay tuned . . . Cheryl