Olive Oil Tasting and Lecce
The olive oil season was beginning the day we went to Galantino to learn and taste. Except for some technological advances, the family has been doing the same thing since 1926, and it has stayed in the family. It was educational, and interesting, and of course, they take olive oil very seriously in this part of the world.
Afterwards, we took a drive to Monopoli, another small town in the area. The following day, we drove to Lecce, the capital of the region, a city 2000 years old, with churches and squares to see and, of course, coffee and gelato to taste.
We had one of the best meals of the trip in Lecce at Le Zie Trattoria Casereccia. If we didn’t have the address, we wouldn’t have found the spot. You have to ring the doorbell for someone to let you in, and those someones are local women and Carmela Perrone’s multi-generational family.
The walls are filled with local art, drawings from children who have eaten there, and people’s business cards. The menu is tight, and everything is delicious and family-style. Horse is on the menu too, which we avoided, but only because it is not something we are used to.
That evening we dined at Masseria Calderisi, another win. The dining room is all white, serene with beautiful uplighting. It feels sophisticated and modern, and many of the vegetables are farmed on the property. The veal Milanese was hands down the best I have ever had. Crispy, juicy, and perfectly prepared. I am still thinking about it.
The weather gods were not great to us in Puglia, so we opted to call an audible and leave for Rome a day early. It was windy, and cool, and so the ability to go out on a boat, or hang by the pool was not in the cards. The breakfast at the hotel was one of the other best meals. I had scrambled eggs, whipped ricotta, olive oil, prosciutto, and insanely good large sun-dried tomatoes soaked in olive oil every morning. The local food is fish and pasta but nothing blew me away except for the three meals in this post. The beauty is the land, and the low hanging clouds that if you reached far enough, it is if you can touch them.