Friday, September 28, 2007: Cookery School Day 6

Day 6 started with a trip to the market in Locorotondo.


We then met a local butcher who is Mino's business partner followed by an introduction to some neighbours back at Truddhi. They are vinifying Mino's grapes; a considerably less high-tech operation than the Cantina or Rivera!



Then it was another afternoon of lessons in preparation for the final evening's meal:



As it was the last day of the course, at the end of the meal we were presented with our certificates.



A fuller set of Day 6 photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8179454@N02/sets/72157602269035549/

Thursday, September 27, 2007: Cookery School Day 5

Day 5 started with a trip to the winery Rivera one of the best producers in Puglia and one of Mary's favourites. The winemaker there confirmed that is was a superb vintage; the grapes were indeed looking very healthy.



The tour was followed by a tasting and a trip to Casteldelmonte a world heritage site. After that there was no class so we had the rest of the day off.

We went to Otranto to look at the cathedral and then supper at our usual haunt - Centro Storico in Locorotondo.



A fuller set of Day 5 photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8179454@N02/sets/72157602268888317/

Wednesday, September 26, 2007: Cookery School Day 4

Day 4 started with a trip to a local pasta factory then back to Truddhi to make the real thing.



Filled pasta was not on the original syllabus as it is not typical of southern Italian cuisine but Mino kindly went off course to enable us have a go.


Mary, Mark, Zia and Mino

We also learnt how to open mussels for a stuffed mussel dish.



A fuller set of Day 4 photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8179454@N02/sets/72157602268602759/

Tuesday, September 25, 2007: Cookery School Day 3

Day 3 started with two field trips:

First stop the Cantina Del Locorotondo cooperative where the hot August meant the small farmers were already bringing in their grapes. The manager showing us round reckoned that the quality of grapes was the best he had seen in 23 years working there. An early frost kept the number of bunches down, the lack of rain kept the diseases away and the sunshine pushed the ripeness way up. So a brilliant vintage is in the offing.


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Second stop Il Frantolio, another cooperative this time of olive growers (often the same small farmers). We learned that you should only ever use extra virgin olive oil. Anything else is oil chemically extracted from the kernels and only of use in things like tinned fish. Do not buy anything other than Extra Virgin!



The afternoon and evening were back to Truddhi to cook and eat amongst other dishes: roast peppers with capers and olives, stuffed aubergines and ricotta tart.


Mary at work!



A fuller set of Day 3 photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8179454@N02/sets/72157602241902733/

Monday, September 24, 2007: Cookery School Day 2

Mino returns and Day 2 sets the pattern for the rest of the week: a excursion in the morning, lunch, class from 4 till 7:30, dinner at 8 for whoever was about. Usually us two, Carole and Mino, their friend Mair from Wales, Zia, and a couple of paying guests from the Truddhi holiday apartments where the lessons are held.


Truddhi Cookery School

We visited a diary where they made mozzerella, all by hand from local milk. What amazed me was that all the mozzarella, even the little ones are all knotted by hand - you couldn't make it up!


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Then we made fava bean and chicory, orecchietti, stuffed rabbit and Mino's version of bread and butter pudding. This day we mostly watched and helped a little. As the week progressed we got more and more hands-on which was better. Partly at our insistence and partly (I am guessing) that Mino realised we were able cooks.

A fuller set of Day 2 photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8179454@N02/sets/72157602209424622/

Sunday, September 23, 2007: Cookery School Starts

Sunday was the start of the cookery school. Mino was in Wales at a food expo promoting Puglian food so we had Sunday lunch at his sister Zia's house. She fired up the pizza oven and we did a number of flour based dishes: focaccia, orecchietti, something else and then a tiedda (hotpot) of chicken and potatoes.

Zia and a forno a legno (wood burning oven)

It was all conducted in Italian as Zia has very little English which was good fun. Then we sat down with her family for Sunday lunch - it was a privilege to be invited into her home and family.

Zia and Mino also appeared on the BBC series "Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escape" in the same Puglian episode as Rosa:

Zia, Rick Stein and Mino Maggi *

This was where the rest of the course was held. More tomorrow...

* Buy the book from Amazon

Meeting the Italian Neighbours (1)

Carole and Mino Maggi live just 2.5 km away in the local village of Trito. They run a lovely holiday complex of trulli called "Truddhi" (apparently the local dialect word for Trulli).

Carole is Welsh and met and married local boy Mino 30 years ago. They returned to Italy and have been there ever since. They are charming and friendly and said we could use their pool. We very gratefully accepted given the recent heatwave.

They also run a cookery school and do demonstration dinners. Mary and I are going on the course in September to learn how to cook real Italian, local style.

While we were out there with Bill, Andrea and Elaine they put on a demonstration dinner for their guests and us. Many of their guests were actually family so it was a very sociable evening. We arrived at 6 o'clock and watched while Mino and his sister Zia prepared and cooked the entire meal from scratch. We finally ate at 9 by which time we were ready for the food!

I was watching with great interest how Zia used the pizza oven hoping to pick up tips on how to use ours. More on the oven later...