Culinary Traditions & Specialities

Most of the region faces east across the Adriatic, and the style of cooking is eclectic, reflecting the centuries of alien influences. The eastern Puglian ports of Bari and Brindisi were - and are still - the gateways to eastern Europe and beyond, to Croatia, Greece, Albania and Turkey. The curve of the Gulf of Taranto, from the tip of the heel up into the instep of the Italian boot, is on the Ionian Sea. The city of Taranto itself, an important military port, is known for its extensive cultivation of good quality mussels and oysters.