Our first two days in Puglia, we were based at Don Ferrante, a beautiful hotel on the water. If you look across you might be able to see Albania, 50 miles away. Monopoli is a glorious town on the Adriatic and we enjoyed wandering the streets, since it's mostly a pedestrian-only city.
On our way out of town, we decided to do a street food tour before traveling to our trullo airbnb in Fasano. Bari is an interesting city, we were told that many years ago, it was quite rough, but has experienced a renaissance just as the entire region of Puglia has.
We began our tour with some foccacia Puglese---quite different from the Ligurian foccacia. This one is crunchy, usually has tomatoes on top and is delicious.
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| This is the line for the Focaccia |
Bari is a warren of twisty streets, and around every corner you will see something new. This was a vendor selling his wares from his garden.
Wandering through the narrow streets, dodging scooters, and other pedestrians, we arrive at a sandwich shop. Their specialty is an octopus sandwich, but I was really focused on the other sandwiches, each one a little jewel of color, taste, and aroma.
Another Barese specialty is Panzarotti---basically a fried pizza, it's got the requisite cheese and tomato inside, and the crust on the outside that is deep fried.
Many of these foods are foods of the poor, or cucina povera. Simple dishes that cost a few cents to make with readily available ingredients.
After a gelato stop, we were off to find our Trullo in Selva da Fasano. Ciao for now.