I❤️ Markets: Bari
A great starting point to visit Puglia.
I first starting going down to Puglia to do research for planning culinary trips back in 2009. We drove down so we could get off the beaten track and find small villages as well as visit the larger towns. We drove all the way down to the lowest part and realized that it wasn’t really ready for tourists from America yet.
Most Italians have long vacations and rent homes rather than stay in hotels. So I decided to concentrate on the larger towns, farther north. Bari was my starting point.
Today, Puglia is a destination spot for tourism. You can find everthing from Farmhouse stays, Air B/B’s and luxury hotels and Estates ( the Masseria’s are old farm estates).
Seafood is fabulous on the coast in Puglia.
At the fish market, they sell a large selection of raw seafood and shellfish.
Puglia is considered the bread basket of Italy. It produces fruit, vegetables, wheat and 60% of the olive oil produced in Italy. Much of the oil is used to blend other oils.
Many of the olive trees are over 200 years old. There has just beenan outbreak of a disease among these ancient olives and they may have to cut them down.
I am featuring Bari for my Guide as it’s probably the place you arrive with a plane and easy entry into Puglia.
It’s become famous for the women in the old part of town that sit outside their home and make and sell the local pasta, Orecchiette. Nunzia, the woman below really has made the street famous, she is the loud one on the street!
In the old town, you find mostly small stands like this on the street in front of smaller indoor shops all over town. In the more modern part of town, I listed some of the other larger markets.
This guide is available to the paid subscribers to the newsletter. You will also have access to the archives for this project. Markets are the heart and soul of a city. It really helps to also tour with someone when you are in a new region to understand regional recipes and ingredients as well. I think of my research trips as treasure hunts.