Slow Cooking Puglia™

Join Letizia for a week of cooking and touring in the heart of Puglia, Italy’s geographic ‘heel.’ The town of Conversano is your base, just about 45 minutes south of Bari and also included is a special overnight stay in a Masseria, a traditional Apulian estate in Otranto after an incredible visit to Alberobello and the land of Trulli. Your cooking week brings you into the colorful cooking of Puglia, with fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, fish caught fresh each day from the Adriatic and more. Cook, eat and tour your way through this amazing region of Italy, so often ignored by tourists, yet so rich in history and culinary traditions.

Cooking Classes

The cooking program consists of three lessons each lasting about three hours. For the first cooking class, the chef leads you in making lamb with potatoes roasted in the wood oven, taralli~ a traditional baked bread treat, and the traditional dry biscotti. For your second cooking class, prepare local cuttlefish, rice, mussels and potatoes cooked in the wood oven. The third class is a dessert workshop where you will learn several desserts, including, bignè and zeppole, typical Apulian dessert with Chantilly cream. If time allows, you can also prepare calzone di cipolla, a rustic pizza filled with onions.

Menus vary to use the best fresh seasonal ingredients and to accommodate food allergies and/or diet needs.

Puglia

Puglia is the heel of the Italian boot and is known for a world of culinary delights, natural wonders, incredible art & architecture and splendid churches. With the Adriatic Sea on the eastern coast and the Gulf of Taranto in the instep, the peninsula of Puglia offers something for every traveler.

Alberobello is called ‘the Trulli capital’ and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Trulli are the stone houses with coned roofs, traditionally built without any cement or mortar that characterize this southern town. At the top of the roof, traditionally there is either a pinnacle or a painted symbol, ranging from crosses, to planetary symbols, and others thought to ward off the evil eye and bring good luck to the household. Alberobello is also known for its olive oil and with all those olive trees, talented artisans carve olive wood into cucchiarelle, wooden spoons, cutting boards, furniture, woven baskets and much more.

Ostuni is a small city near the coast in the province of Brindisi in Puglia. It is called ‘La Città Bianca,’ the White City, for whitewashed houses and palazzos that crown the hilltop. The towns ancient walls still encircle the city, and from the hilltop historical center, the views sweep the pristine beaches, olive groves and masserie, farm estates, below. Olive oil is without a doubt the main product of this area, and one taste reveals the unique flavor of the ‘liquid gold’ from the hills of Puglia.

Otranto’s most treasured sites include the pentagon-shaped Aragonese Castle and the Cathedral with its incredible mosaic floor, dating from 1166AD.

Lecce is known as the Florence of Southern Italy, and true to its nickname is a city rich in art and culture. Monuments include Medieval castles, Renaissance churches and ruins dating back to the Greek civilization that colonized the area, and Roman amphitheaters. Today, Lecce thrives producing artisan ceramics, olive oil with a unique Puglia taste, and both red and white prized wines.

Each summer, the town of Martina Franca holds an opera festival, Festival della Valle d’Itria. The historic center of this small city enchants its visitors, and local products include the Martina Franca DOC sparkling wine, as well as an assortment of local salumi such as capocollo.

Accommodations

The Villa located in the heart of Puglia’s most beautiful area, offers 22 elegant guest rooms. The property, with its dreamlike view, overlooks the front of a Romanesque cathedral.

The 4-star property has an air of elegance and a romantic flair of charm. The villa sits on a historical Medieval court in a residential area at the center of Conversano, the City of Art. The property was completely renovated in 2002, keeping the old-world charm, yet adding modern amenities. The antique dwellings located within the walls of the Medieval court were transformed into a reception area, and the suites are now decorated with elegant furnishings. Each guest suite offers a large bedroom with a private bath and provided accessories. The rooms are decorated with comfortable furnishings, and adorned with barrel ceilings and wooden beams that add a magical effect.

All rooms are equipped with direct-control air conditioning, satellite TV, direct telephone, security safes, internet connection and a minibar. A solarium terrace, an information and concierge desk, complimentary bikes for each guest’s use, transfer facilities for area excursions, and a friendly staff add the finishing touches. A private relaxing shiatsu massage service is also available for each guest in the privacy of your own room.

Each morning, a large buffet breakfast is served in the sunny garden room. Freshly squeezed orange juice, yogurt, a choice of cereals, homemade croissants baked daily, biscotti, traditional cakes, fresh local cheeses, seasonal fruit, along with cappuccino, coffee and tea, are served.

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Itinerary: 8 Days, 7 Nights

Check in Saturday and check out Saturday. Other check-in days may be available upon request, please call for details.

Saturday: Arrival, Tour Conversano & Welcome Dinner

• Arrival to Bari airport and transfer to hotel.
• Check in and relax. The first day begins with a visit of the historic center, including St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Swabian castle, an artisan pastry shop, the traditional orecchiette maker, the fish market, and to Polignano a Mare, a beautiful historic town on the sea.
• Later in the afternoon, take time to relax with an Italian apertivo.
• In the evening, your Welcome Dinner is served at our favorite ristorante, listed in the prestigious Gambero Rosso. This award-winning restaurant offers a superior menu with an excellent choice of regional and national wines. The elegant dining room with antique oak floors, handcrafted lighting and beautiful decorations add to the experience. In the evening, you will tour through the lanes of the ancient town.

Sunday: Cooking Class 1

• Breakfast is served.
• Cooking Class 1 set in the country house in Conversano, just one kilometer from the hotel.
• Lunch or dinner follows with the foods prepared in class.
• In your free time, walk through the winding streets of the old town. Visit the Romanesque Cathedral and Monastery of St. Benedict, and the Norman castle, home to the masterpieces of Paolo Finoglio, 6th century court painter. The collection includes: La Gerusalemme Liberata and frescoes in the Baroque church of Saint Cosma and Damiano.
• Or, you may choose to relax at the Villa’s Spa: A flashback to the Ancient Roman spa technique. Begin at the Vestibolo, the entranceway of the Thermarium spa, where you begin your journey. We will take you to the Apodyterium, the dressing room, in order to prepare your body and soul. Wandering through the Tepidarium, the nice sensation of the hot temperature will prepare you for the Calidarium and Laconicum. Here you will have a steam bath, followed by the Frigidarium, cold shower with nourishing sensations of Chromotherapy. Then at the marble Calidarium, enjoy a gently natural skin scrub. After another colored cold shower you will be ready for the Tepidarium, with its travertine walls, to experience the hot temperature and benefits of the water massage. You will see stairs to the stone ceiling and move on to the Ambulationes, the relaxing place par excellence. Sit back with a book or magazine and an herbal tea and you will enjoy the fruitful rest of idleness. From here, you may choose to continue on to the Destrictorio where experienced hands will massage your body and soul for the perfect end to your relaxation journey.

Monday: Tour UNESCO Castel Del Monte & Vineyard Visit

• Breakfast is served.
• A visit to the Castel del Monte, a UNESCO HERITAGE site.
• In the morning, you will visit the manor commissioned by Federico II of Svevia. This castle is one of the greatest examples of Medieval art and protected as a Heritage of Humanity under UNESCO. Castel del Monte is also the name of Strada del Vino and the famous DOC wine from Puglia.
• Next is a Vineyard Visit to a wine producer in Torrevento. Visit of the facilities and underground cellars. The oenologist explains the production process of the excellent DOC wines. Following is a visit to the vineyard on the estate, wine tasting included.
• Continue on to Trani, home to the Moscato di Trani wine and the old center of town. The town is dominated by Saint Antonio, the All Saints Church and the great Apulian Cathedral built in Romanesque style.
• Dinner is on your own. You can try traditional a dinner featuring grilled meat, torcinelli, salsicce, braciole, agnello, ventresca sale e pepe, row vegetables and green olives. You can order it in the butcher shop next to the Villa. Don’t miss the cherries and spumone, a typical ice cream dessert.

Tuesday: Cooking Class 2

• Breakfast is served.
• Next, head into the kitchen for your Cooking Class 2 followed by lunch or dinner on the foods prepared in class.
• Afternoon free to explore the area on your own, bike or walk through the gardens.

Wednesday: Matera’s Sassi, Noci Cantina Visit & Tasting

• Breakfast is served.
• After breakfast, you will depart for Matera and visit Sassi a UNESCO heritage site. Lunch included in a traditional restaurant in the same area of Sassi.
• In the afternoon you will depart for Noci and visit the Cantine del Barsento. The owners and oenologist will greet you, wine tasting to follow. You will return to Conversano via the scenic route for a panoramic landscape view along the way.
• Dinner is on your own, suggestion: Agriturismo Montepaola, the splendid farm manor dating back to1726. Submerged among the olive groves, vineyards and almond trees, with a façade made of lime-wash and framed by pines, this estate offers appetizers of spring onions with cooked wine, savory ricotta cannoli, green beans and mushrooms with wild fennel. Also suggested is a sweet milk dessert called blancmange (almond cream) and jam, the ideal companion to the homemade rosolio, rose petal liquor.
• Return to the Villa.

Thursday: Market Visit & Cooking Class 3

• Breakfast is served.
• In the morning, visit to the Local Market in Piazza Battisti and shop with the Chef for ingredients for your cooking class.
• Return to the villa for your Cooking Class 3, with lunch or dinner following with the foods prepared in class.
• Free afternoon to relax or choose a Spa Treatment.

Friday: Alberobello: Trulli Tour & Masseria Overnight

• Breakfast is served.
• Departure to Alberobello. This is UNESCO heritage site, and has the highest concentration of trulli, the very old homes of Puglia. Walk the Medieval Rione, Aia Piccola and Rione Monti, and you can browse and shop the many artisan workshops and studios. You will continue on to Otranto to stay in a 4-star Masseria hotel.
• Overnight stay at the Masseria.

Saturday: Departure

• Breakfast is served.
• Free time in the morning, before departure.
• Departure transfer to the airport of Brindisi or Bari.