Puglia is a region of Italy on the southern coast, known as the ‘heel’ of the ‘boot’ of Italy. Visitors can enjoy a piece of everything in Puglia from the Baroque streets in ‘The Florence in the South’ Lecce to the longest coastline in Italy and the unique stone-built, hobbit-style Trullo huts in Alberobello.

This is all dominated by the region’s most treasured source of income, olives. Puglia produces 40% of Italy’s olive oil, making it one of the largest in the world. This oil is used on pastas that are native to the region such as orechiette (little ears) which get their name from their distinctive shape. Orechiette is used in dishes such as orecchiette alle cime di rapa, a simple pasta that combines olive oil, pecorino and cime di rapa (a relative of the humble broccoli).

The most widely grown wine grape in the region is Negroamaro – literally ‘black bitter’. It is hardly grown outside the region and is used to produce some of Puglian’s best wines like Salice Salentino. Primitivo is also a very popular variety, producing rich, high alcohol red wines.