When TV chef Sophie Grigson visited Puglia in Italy, she was so seduced by it she knew she had found her new home…
Sophie Grigson: Slice of Italy Monday 9.00pm, 9.30pm Food Network
Katie Bowman - 27 September 2022
In her own words, “the light bulb switched right back on” when Sophie Grigson visited Puglia in Italy. “I needed a bit of an adventure, and Puglia seduced me.” So the food writer, broadcaster and cook moved there for good, settling in the small, historic town of Ceglie Messapica, where she fell only deeper in love with Puglia through its food, its markets and new-found friends. She shares her favourite recipes in her new, ten-part series Sophie Grigson: Slice of Italy; but here she reveals why this lesser-known part of the country – the “heel” of Italy’s boot – is so different and so special.
LESS POLISHED, MORE DRAMA
I didn’t choose Puglia; Puglia chose me. I fell in love with the heart and soul of the south – it’s less polished, less slick, so seductive and with more drama. The northern Italians think southerners are lazy, not so bright or sophisticated (and the southerners think northerners are stuck-up and superior!) but here they love life, they love food, they value family. The summers are so long that they have only two seasons – summer and not-summer – which means everybody is always outside in the evening; they really pile out into the main square for the passeggiata.
GREAT FOOD, COOKED IN A SHOEBOX
My favourite restaurant appears in the series: Vino Fritti e Cucina, off the main square in Cegilie, my town. The food is consistently excellent but I have no idea how they produce the menu they do – I saw the kitchen during filming, and it’s like a shoebox! Tiny, tiny, tiny. Then there’s Il Cortiletto, in a little, nowhere hamlet called Speziale: it’s so nothing-looking, with a door you could easily miss – but the cooking, served in a lovely courtyard, is amazing. What a lot of people don’t understand about Italian restaurants is that you should always order the antipasto – it gives a great range of local dishes and is where a chef can shine. It’s also huge, so you might not need to order anything else.
WE GET EXCITED ABOUT TURNIPS
I was talking with my greengrocer yesterday and he thinks the turnip season will kick off next week! One of my favourite Pugliese dishes is orecchiette (ear-shaped) pasta with cime di rapa, or turnip tops. Don’t order this dish if you see it in summer: the turnips will be frozen. But it’s a wonderful, iconic plate, born out of the terrifying poverty in Puglia, suffered until only relatively recently. You just need a little chilli, garlic, maybe anchovies, and you have a dish fit for kings.
BUY A HOUSE FOR A EURO
Taranto is my favourite city, and houses are available for just €1! But don’t be tempted; you’d have to spend hundreds of thousands to make it livable. I always send friends here; the old town is falling apart – it’s not pretty and dolled up, but it’s so atmospheric. There are amazing murals and a wonderful archaeological museum, which is a fascinating introduction to the history of Puglia. Inland there’s a lagoon, Mare Piccolo, where they farm oysters and mussels, which you can buy from Taranto’s harbourside. It’s gorgeous – much “saltier” than other places.
MARKET DAY… AND BEACH TIPS
Saturday in Puglia is all about the weekly food market. I love Ostuni’s – it’s not huge but it has everything you need, from fresh produce, down through pots, pans, curtains, knickers, whatever… If you do hit the beach on a summer weekend, sometimes it’s hard to see the sand because they’re so packed. So I go to the Lido Azzurro – not somewhere any tourists will have heard of because it’s near a city. It’s long and sandy and stretches out as far as the eye can see, with lovely, local pine trees and gorgeous sunsets. But if you look the other way you see the industrial cranes of Taranto port. I love that because hardly anybody goes there.
PERFECTLY AIMLESS
My perfect day is aimless exploration; I love driving the back roads and finding unusual places. This summer’s discovery was the Sirose vineyards on the edge of a town called Locorotondo. In the summer they open to the public and you can taste their wines; you sit on bales of hay in the vineyard watching the sun set across the valley. I order a very nice sparkling Primitivo rosé. Just joyous.
LOVELY TRULLI
The trulli – the typical stone-built, conical-roofed Pugliese houses – are adorable. When my daughter first visited, I had to take her on a trulli circuit just to get them out of her system! They’re so picturesque to stay in for a holiday, but too dark and humid to live in. One of the loveliest is Trullo Tre Mondi (in Ostuni), which is where we filmed many outdoor meals in the series. It’s beautiful, and is an Airbnb.
In her own words, “the light bulb switched right back on” when Sophie Grigson visited Puglia in Italy. “I needed a bit of an adventure, and Puglia seduced me.” So the food writer, broadcaster and cook moved there for good, settling in the small, historic town of Ceglie Messapica, where she fell only deeper in love with Puglia through its food, its markets and new-found friends. She shares her favourite recipes in her new, ten-part series Sophie Grigson: Slice of Italy; but here she reveals why this lesser-known part of the country – the “heel” of Italy’s boot – is so different and so special.
LESS POLISHED, MORE DRAMA
I didn’t choose Puglia; Puglia chose me. I fell in love with the heart and soul of the south – it’s less polished, less slick, so seductive and with more drama. The northern Italians think southerners are lazy, not so bright or sophisticated (and the southerners think northerners are stuck-up and superior!) but here they love life, they love food, they value family. The summers are so long that they have only two seasons – summer and not-summer – which means everybody is always outside in the evening; they really pile out into the main square for the passeggiata.
GREAT FOOD, COOKED IN A SHOEBOX
My favourite restaurant appears in the series: Vino Fritti e Cucina, off the main square in Cegilie, my town. The food is consistently excellent but I have no idea how they produce the menu they do – I saw the kitchen during filming, and it’s like a shoebox! Tiny, tiny, tiny. Then there’s Il Cortiletto, in a little, nowhere hamlet called Speziale: it’s so nothing-looking, with a door you could easily miss – but the cooking, served in a lovely courtyard, is amazing. What a lot of people don’t understand about Italian restaurants is that you should always order the antipasto – it gives a great range of local dishes and is where a chef can shine. It’s also huge, so you might not need to order anything else.
WE GET EXCITED ABOUT TURNIPS
I was talking with my greengrocer yesterday and he thinks the turnip season will kick off next week! One of my favourite Pugliese dishes is orecchiette (ear-shaped) pasta with cime di rapa, or turnip tops. Don’t order this dish if you see it in summer: the turnips will be frozen. But it’s a wonderful, iconic plate, born out of the terrifying poverty in Puglia, suffered until only relatively recently. You just need a little chilli, garlic, maybe anchovies, and you have a dish fit for kings.
BUY A HOUSE FOR A EURO
Taranto is my favourite city, and houses are available for just €1! But don’t be tempted; you’d have to spend hundreds of thousands to make it livable. I always send friends here; the old town is falling apart – it’s not pretty and dolled up, but it’s so atmospheric. There are amazing murals and a wonderful archaeological museum, which is a fascinating introduction to the history of Puglia. Inland there’s a lagoon, Mare Piccolo, where they farm oysters and mussels, which you can buy from Taranto’s harbourside. It’s gorgeous – much “saltier” than other places.
MARKET DAY… AND BEACH TIPS
Saturday in Puglia is all about the weekly food market. I love Ostuni’s – it’s not huge but it has everything you need, from fresh produce, down through pots, pans, curtains, knickers, whatever… If you do hit the beach on a summer weekend, sometimes it’s hard to see the sand because they’re so packed. So I go to the Lido Azzurro – not somewhere any tourists will have heard of because it’s near a city. It’s long and sandy and stretches out as far as the eye can see, with lovely, local pine trees and gorgeous sunsets. But if you look the other way you see the industrial cranes of Taranto port. I love that because hardly anybody goes there.
PERFECTLY AIMLESS
My perfect day is aimless exploration; I love driving the back roads and finding unusual places. This summer’s discovery was the Sirose vineyards on the edge of a town called Locorotondo. In the summer they open to the public and you can taste their wines; you sit on bales of hay in the vineyard watching the sun set across the valley. I order a very nice sparkling Primitivo rosé. Just joyous.
LOVELY TRULLI
The trulli – the typical stone-built, conical-roofed Pugliese houses – are adorable. When my daughter first visited, I had to take her on a trulli circuit just to get them out of her system! They’re so picturesque to stay in for a holiday, but too dark and humid to live in. One of the loveliest is Trullo Tre Mondi (in Ostuni), which is where we filmed many outdoor meals in the series. It’s beautiful, and is an Airbnb.
KATIE BOWMAN