Thursday, August 13, 2009

How to make Orecchiette

For all you foodies, here's the secret to making authentic homemade pasta - find an old lady to do it for you. And then you can learn from her. Ours is the mother of our good friend Giuditta Mazzilli. Her mom was nice enough to come to the villa from the neighboring town of Giovinazzo to show us how "Orecchiette" are made. The recipe is very simple: semolina flour, a small amount of white flour, water and a pinch of salt. You add the water in small amounts because, as she wisely informed us, "you can always add more but you can't delete." Then you knead the dough, make long, tubular strips, cut little pieces with a butter knife and roll each piece on your forefinger and thumb as you cut the piece. Sound easy? Not so much. It's all in the finger roll.







Sunday, August 9, 2009

Holy Week in Puglia

I know it's a long time since last Holy Week, but since I had some nice pictures and it's a wonderful experience, I thought I'd post it now. Most of the towns in Puglia still have rather amazing Holy Week ceremonies. I only attended the ones in Ruvo di Puglia and Terlizzi but I was mesmerized, nonetheless. The silence, the devotion of the spectators and the detailed statues that are brought out in the middle of the night is something not to be missed.