Martina Franca e la Valle d’Itria

Posted on Oct 28th, 2018

by Annapaola

Categories:

Travel and cooking

Martina Franca is the capital of Valle d’Itria, with Locorotondo and Alberobello, in the heart of Puglia.Valle d’Itria is the country of trulli with a fairytale scenery. It is full of green fields and small streets surrounded by dry stone walls.

The historic centre in Martina Franca is a memorable maze of winding alleys, where whitewashed simplicity sits side by side with baroque extravagance.

Martina Franca is a very active culturally city, especially during the summer. It is the base for the annual Festival della Valle d’Itria, a summer opera festival, around the end of July and beginning of August. Operas and classical music concerts are performed in venues around town including the Palazzo Ducale and the Basilica di San Martino.

The white alley are coloured and full of people!

Martina Franca is really famose for the amazing meat. Every butcher has inside the business a wood oven and some table so the costumers can eat their delicious meat!

The owner of ours trullo recommended us a typical “trattoria” in Martina Franca where it is possible to eat all traditional food. After a long travel we were really hungry so we went to Trattoria La Porta di San Pietro.

We started with an amazing Tagliere di capocollo, pancetta and cacio cavallo!

….. and small fried meatballs with a bottle of Negroamaro, typical red wine of Salento.

Meanwhile we were waiting for the second plates, the owner showed us how they cook the meat….It was so interesting!…. with their cooking method all the fat of the meat runs on the base of the oven, so the final product is more healthy!

The meat was ready! A beautiful “grigliata” with scottona,potatoes and black salt, sausages, lamb ribs and unmissable “Bombette pugliesi”.

Le “Bombette pugliesi ” are fresh pork rolls stuffed with cheese (cacio cavallo), salt, pepper and capocollo. Capocollo is the pork cup that dominates among all the meat of the area. It is a product linked to the nature of the territory to which it owes its smell and flavour. These pork rolls are rounded and small. The name is linked to the explosion of flavour that is experienced by eating them and above all savouring the filling made tasty by cheese.