A Mathematician's Castle & Cuisine in Puglia

Castle del Monte, pictured above, is an unexpectedly striking castle perched on a hill in the Andria region of Puglia in Southeastern Italy. Used mainly as a hunting lodge, it was completed in 1240 by Emperor Frederick II. The fortress is an octagonal prism with an octagonal tower at each corner. Both floors have eight rooms and an eight-sided courtyard occupies the castle's centre. Here is a blueprint of the fortress blueprint:

And here is a picture of how the Castle del Monte looks from the outside.

Here is a delightful, fluffy, midday Italian frittata made with local zucchini and tomatoes. We made these at Cefalicchio restaurant and to get that slightly crispy, golden brown top, you can broil the frittata on the top rack of the oven for a few minutes once the eggs are cooked through in the skillet.

After the frittata we ordered a pasta that is specific to Puglia. The orcchiette pasta was fresh and it is shaped roughly like small ears. Orcchiette actually means little ear in Italian. This dish was cooked with the green part of scallions, a light olive oil and garlic sauce, seasoned homemade croutons, and thin strips of a soft mild cheese. All in all, it was delicious.

Driving further south of Andria, you can explore the small towns that line the Adriatic Sea in Southeastern Italy. I was with two lovely friends who I met at Cefalicchio and we decided to take a small day road trip down the coast and here are some pictures from the scenic beaches and rustic fishing ports:

Like any good meal, or day trip, we had to end with some dessert. We stopped at a restaurant for some Italian chocolate covered profiteroles which are like little cream-filled pastry balls that are covered with thin chocolate sauce. Heaven.

Liquid Pleasures and Wine Cellars at Cefalicchio

This photo was taken on the my last evening at Cefalicchio. Two friends, with whom I was hitching a ride to Rome, and I shared a bottle of Cefalicchio's award winning dry rose wine atop the viewing tower overlooking the countryside. It was the middle August, my backpack was all packed and I didn't really know what I was doing next. Fortunately, I had already shipped home two crates of delicious, soothing wine and pungent extra virgin olive oil from Cefalicchio's biodynamic farm. The wine and olive oil is stored in an ancient, cool cellar beneath the property. Here is a picture taken from the bottom of the cellar looking up the stairs to the entrance:

And this is what the cellar looks like; racks of wine bottles and olive oil in what used to be a cellar used for drying and storing almonds. The racks are about 6 feet tall so you can get an idea for how high the ceiling is.

 I sent home a few bottles of two different kinds of wine. One was the rose, Ponte Della Lama (pictured in the glass above) and the other was an aromatic white wine named Jalal. Ponte Della Lama was named for a Roman necropolis in the Puglia region that is home to many monuments, shrines and tombs dating back to the 2nd to 5th centuries AD. The wine itself is smooth, warm, well-balanced and slightly sparkling. Here is a picture of the bottle:

According to the Oenologist, Francesco de Lillo, the wine should be enjoyed as an "aperitif, or paired with Mediterranean dishes of food, light pastas with vegetable light sauces." It has a fragrance of "wild strawberries and pomegranate" and should be served cool. Here is another photograph of the wine in all its glory, perched on the viewing tower during a sunset, observing its biodynamic cousin grapes.

Finally, in case you aren't ready to pack your bags and go to Cefalicchio, here is a photograph of the swimming pool for those hot summer days:

Stuffed Baked Figs

I'm sure by now you have an understanding for my obsession with figs from my posts about the figs growing all over Cefalicchio and the wild fig trees in Puglia. One evening a friend, Kim, and I prepared a delicious vegetarian Italian meal for the two kind and hospitable directors of Cefalicchio. I was at a loss of what I should prepare for dessert. Meandering around the garden I got some serious inspiration from the plump and juicy figs just begging to be picked. So I made some stuffed figs and we served them with a dollop of fresh ricotta. The warmness of the figs was a wonderful textural and temperature contrast to the coolness of the ricotta. This dessert is simple to make and looks beautiful on a plate, however as you can tell from the picture, I need to work on making prettier dollops of ricotta.

Stuffed Baked Figs

Ingredients:
6 Ripe large figs
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons chopped almonds or walnuts
Honey, for drizzling
6 dollops of fresh ricotta

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wash the figs and carefully slice off the stem. Then make an "X" shape in the top of the fig so that you can gently pull apart the 4 segments to stuff the figs while leaving the fig intact.
3. In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts until combined.
4. Gently pull apart the 4 segments of the figs, stuff with the brown sugar mixture and then place the figs on a baking pan. Drizzle with a bit of honey. Bake in the oven until the figs are softened but still kept firm, about 5-8 minutes.
5. Serve warm on a plate with a dollop of fresh ricotta.

Fried Zucchini Flowers at Cefalicchio

Fried zucchini flowers, or fiore de zucchini, are a typical Puglian antipasto. About twice a week Enuncio, the gardener, would bring in large buckets full of zucchini from the Cefalicchio gardens and large bags of delicate, vibrant zucchini flowers. Normally, I would have discarded the flowers but in Puglia, they are transformed into a delightful appetizer. I have heard of them being stuffed with various sauces or meats but at Cefalicchio we stuffed them with strips of mozzarella and ricotta. While zucchini flowers may not be very easy to find at your local supermarket, I recommend speaking with the squash vendors at your local farmer's market or growing your own zucchinis. This dish takes time and patience as you need to carefully and gently clean the fragile flowers because they might have small insects hiding in their soft folds.

Fried Zucchini Flowers

Ingredients:

14 Zucchini flowers

Ricotta and Mozzarella, sliced into strips

2 eggs

1 cup seltzer water

1 cup flour

Kosher salt for garnish

Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Carefully wash and clean the zucchini blossoms. Leave the stems intact (or about two inches long) to hold the zucchini flowers together and remove the stamen.

2. Stuff each zucchini flower with strips of ricotta and/or mozzarella and set on a pan.

3. Heat about three inches of oil in a large heavy pan or wok until it is about 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. In a bowl, mix together the eggs, seltzer water and flour until you have a creamy consistency for the batter.

5. Using tongs, gently dip the stuffed zucchini flowers in the batter to coat and then into the hot oil and fry until crispy and golden, about 2 minutes.

6. Remove the fried zucchini flowers and set on a paper towel to remove any excess oil. Serve warm with a dash of kosher salt. Enjoy!

Burrata of Puglia

Burrata will change the way you think and feel about cheese, it might even change the way you think and feel about life. It is the celebrity of cheeses. It is delivered like a present and filled with surprises. The first time I tried this cheese it was brought in by the Director of the restaurant at Cefalicchio, Donato. Then we had it again when it was brought in by a visiting friend from Slow Food University. This specialty is pronounced boor-RAH-tah and it is essentially a hollow ball of mozzarella that is filled with stracciatella and fresh cream. It comes in different sizes but the smallest is about the size of a tennis ball and the picture above is of a large one that is about the size of a child's face. Once you cut into the cheese, which has a mozzarella texture, you will be delighted with a thick, creamy, silky center that slowly oozes out onto your plate like a chocolate souffle. The name Burrata is derived from the word "burro" which means butter in Italian. In the cream are curds of stracciatella which are essentially shreds of mozzarella. I was reading the article, Buttery Burrata, on Travel Lady blog and would like to share some of her burrata discoveries:
"Many cheese connoisseurs recognize burrata as one of the best fresh cheeses in the world. Pure, sweet, fresh cheese is different from the rest of its cheese cousins because it is not aged. Fresh cheeses are made today and off to market tomorrow. Mozarella is one of the simplest and quickest cheeses to make. It can take less than eight hours to go from milk to finished product. The method used to make burrata is the same as mozzarella differing only in the stretching technique used and the fact that burrata has a filling...According to cheese experts, the quality of this “mother of mozzarella” correlates directly to what the cows eat, where they graze, the water they drink, the distances they travel and even the air they breathe. All of these factors combine to make a unique and exquisite cheese."
Here is another picture of a bowl of burrata that are about the size of tennis balls.

After doing some research I found out that until recently burrata had to be flown in from Italy, but now there are domestic producers in Canada and the US.
The company Di Stefano out of Southern California makes and ships burrata. Gioia Cheese Company can overnight the cheese to you and they are based in Southern California too. You can also order it from iGourmet which is based in Texas. Please let me know if you learn of any other burrata producers in North America!

Breakfast Brioche at Cefalicchio

In addition to granola, freshly baked brioche were also a staple at the Cefalicchio breakfast buffet. I was so happy to learn how to make these delightful breakfast rolls from Annie - the CIA student who was visiting Cefalicchio while I was there. I would make a new batch of brioche dough every two to three days and the brioche were rolled and baked fresh daily. Any leftovers can be used to make a superb brioche bread pudding with any seasonal fruit. They are best served warm with a selection of homemade jams. I promise these brioche will be a crowd pleaser and are all the reason to host a brunch pot luck with your friends. I apologize but I forget how many brioche rolls can be made from one recipe...I think thirty rolls. Also,  if you don't want to use all the dough in one sitting you can cover it and keep it chilled for up to three days. If you are planning on making these for a party I recommend making the dough ahead of time and just rolling out and baking the brioche before guests arrive. Before you start to make the dough you should set out the butter at room temperature for at least twenty minutes so that it gets really nice and soft. Finely, you will notice this recipe is in metric weights, I highly recommend purchasing a metric scale as your ingredient measurements will be much more precise.

Brioche

Ingredients:

500 grams Bread flour

200 grams Eggs

13 grams Salt

6 grams Yeast

116 grams Milk

251 grams Butter (very soft)

75 grams Sugar



Directions:

1. Weigh the ingredients out and set out the butter.

2. Combine the eggs and milk in a kitchen aid bowl and mix lightly.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar and mix with your hands until evenly distributed. Add the yeast to the flour mixture.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use the mixer with the dough hook to mix until just combined. Add half the butter and mix on low speed until it is completely incorporated.

5. Turn the mixer to medium speed and add the remaining butter.

6. Mix until the dough has reached full gluten development (or the point where the dough forms a small but strong window when stretched). This will get easier with time, the more you practise, the better your brioche will be.

7. Place in a bowl that has been greased with butter, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To Bake:

1. Preheat oven to 365 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Line baking trays with parchment paper. In a small bowl beat one egg with a pinch of salt.

3. Shape dough into small balls and place on a tray two inches apart.

4. After shaping the dough, brush the rolls with the egg wash and allow to sit at room temperature until they double in size, about 10-15 minutes. Brush the rolls again with the egg wash and bake until dark brown, about 8 minutes rotating once.

Granola at Cefalicchio

While at Cefalicchio I had the pleasure of working alongside a CIA (Culinary Institute of America) student from New York named Annie. I learned a lot about baking and making scrumptious desserts from Annie and one thing that I really loved was the homemade granola. This was super easy to make and it was a staple at breakfast buffet at Cefalicchio. Many guests even asked if they could buy it! Granola is very forgiving so feel free to add or subtract nuts and dried fruit to your liking. I have adapted the recipe from Annie because I wanted to have less sugar - the original recipe calls for 12 ounces brown sugar but I found 8 to be sufficient. Lastly, all the measurements are in metric weights. If you don't have a metric scale you can easily convert these online however I find the metric measurements to be much more precise. The recipe makes a lot! Enough to give some as gifts to friends and family or to last you a few weeks if you have some every day. I recommend storing the granola in air tight containers and it tastes best if eaten within two weeks of being made.

Granola

Ingredients:

21 ounces rolled oats

30 ounces assorted nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, cashews)

12 ounces dried coconut

6 ounces flour

1 pinch salt

Cinnamon (to taste)

8 ounces brown sugar

7.5 ounces olive oil

12 ounces honey

30 ounces assorted dried fruits, chopped



Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 305 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, nuts, flour, salt and cinnamon.

3. In a large sauce pan, combine the brown sugar, olive oil and honey. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring continuously.

4. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients, tossing to coat well.

5. Bake on large flat trays in the oven until browned lighting stirring occasionally to bake evenly.

6. Mix in the dried fruit and store in airtight containers.

Cefalicchio's Garden and Pesky Hens

One the best parts about cooking at Cefalicchio was that you had access to an incredible vegetable, fruit and herb garden! The gardens were thoughtfully planned out and wonderfully maintained. Nothing tastes as good as a salad made from lettuce and tomatoes picked just 5 minutes before. Or a pasta with roasted zucchini collected that day. Some things that Cefalicchio grows include lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, peppers, an assortment of squash, peaches, apples, figs, and blood oranges. The options were endless and the herb garden alone had at least 12 different kinds of herbs including rosemary, lavender, mind, basil, and thyme. Above is a photo of one of the lettuce beds. Here is a close up of a gorgeous head of leafy greens!

Look at this beautiful pumpkin!

And in case I didn't talk about figs enough in yesterday's post, here is a close up of a fig vine just at the beginning of fig season in early August.

And a bowl of freshly picked figs!

Cefalicchio also had a small farm with hens, ducks, sheep and horses. At least every two days I would go and collect the eggs from the hens. A fun and funny task. The first time I was sent to the collect the eggs I came back eggless. The hens were sitting on their eggs and I didn't want to bother them, so I came back empty handed only to be told in a thick Italian accent "Don't come back without any eggs!" So I returned to the small hen coop and spent a few minutes just staring at the hens hoping they would figure out that I was there for their eggs and get up, however I had no such luck. Eventually I worked up the courage to sort of nudge one of the hens off her nest and sure enough she was sitting on 4 lovely light brown eggs. However, I sensed by the way she was staring at me, that she was pissed off with me. I nudged the other hens and collected all the eggs and they followed me out their coop and were squawking away as I closed the gate. With time, these hens warmed up to me and I didn't feel so bad taking their eggs, after all, I had to make brioche!

Olive Trees, Grape Vines and Ewok Huts

In my free time I enjoyed for walks in the country side. Cefalicchio has 80 hectares of rolling grape vines and olive trees sprinkled with wild arugula and huge fig trees. Cefalicchio practices biodynamic farming which essentially treats the farm as an organism in and of itself. Using compost as a way of caring for the soil and limiting the need for external inputs. The photo above is from the Cefalicchio website and is taken from the view point on the tower on top of the villa. The pictures below are all from my walks. Arugula is growing all over the property, just sprouting up along dirt paths and in the hills. It doesn't look like the homogeneous arugula we are used to that comes washed 3x in sealed plastic bags at supermarkets. It is crisp and narrow with a jagged edge. In Puglia, Arugula is mostly used for pastas as opposed to salads but it can be enjoyed both raw and cooked. Here is a picture of a bushel of wild arugula on the ground:

As it turns out, I wasn't the only person excited about the wild arugula. I frequently saw locals from the nearby town of Canosa walking around with large plastic bags and picking their week's worth of the fresh greens and any wild herbs like thyme and rosemary that were growing around the area. Here is a photo of a lovely trio who showed me the best spots for arugula.

Around the beginning of August was the start of fig season. I thought I loved figs before I arrived in Italy, but I left Puglia having been completely spoiled with the best figs I've had in my life. Large, fleshy and growing in abundance! I remember when I arrived in Rome, after having had fresh figs every day in Puglia and being so disappointed with the overly priced shriveled and tasteless semi-green figs being sold at markets. Here is a picture of me holding a handful of arugula and a half eaten fig and in the background is a large fig tree which I frequented nearly every day! You can see the beautiful dark salmon color of the fig and how well it holds its round shape. Puglian figs are truly excellent.

Now for the Ewok huts! These are actually called Trulli and they are conical huts made from stone that have an ancient history and are normally built from solid limestone rocks. I've been told different stories regarding their original purpose but from what I gathered, they were used by farmers and laborers who needed to take breaks from the intense heat. Also, it served as a place for them to stay if they lived far away. Now, they seem to serve as sheds for storing tools and I found that some even had clothes inside. I think they look like adorable Ewok huts.

Cefalicchio Country Home in Puglia, Italy

I don't even know where to begin with writing about the incredible experience, peace and food at Cefalicchio Country Home.  I spent the month of July until the middle of August working on a dreamy villa, vineyard,  and restaurant in the region of Puglia in Southern Italy. I spent most of the days working in the restaurant and learning a lot about Puglian cuisine which is amazing. I fell in love with Southern Italy...actually all of Italy. The Cefalicchio Country Home had a massive garden where all our produce came from. There was a farm with hens providing the eggs too! Every day was a bit of an adventure and I learned so much from all the wonderful people who worked there. I had many INCREDIBLE photos of the area, its surroundings and all the amazing food but unfortunately my little computer was stolen. So whoever stole the computer has many pictures of amazing Italian food and good looking Italian men. The photo above was taken by a lovely lady named Kim who also came to work at Cefalicchio for two weeks. It is a picture of the front entrance to the villa where all the guest rooms are. In addition, I had a couple of photos still on my camera, so I will be able to share those. Below is a photograph of the back side of the country home. Every where you turn is a stunning display of flowers, vines, and brightly colored plants.

Most my time was spent in the kitchen with Head Chef Elena (below center) and her assistant Anca (left of  Elena). I am far right. The guy next to me was a visiting chef for a special event and the guy on the far left was Elena's son and he occasionally came to help out. Elena was wonderful, Anca was a bit moody.

On occasion we would have special events on our outdoor patio. If it wasn't a casual fish grill out, it was a glamed up one year old's birthday or a university graduation party. Behind the kitchen was a gem of a location, it had an uninterrupted view of land and sky. Here is a picture taken before the event of the evening set up: