If ever there were a food photo worthy of being called “porn” on my blog, it would surely be this one: this fava bean purée and toasted bread round pie topped with a delicately battered and fried red onion round and accompanied by a lightly roasted shishito pepper (for lunch at the Masseria Le Fabriche yesterday on the western coast of Apulia). Sexy and delicious…
But the dish that really blew me away at last night’s dinner at Le Fabriche was this housemade almond paste pastry, a classic of Apulian gastronomy. The combination of nuanced texture and gentle sweetness was sublime.
The pastry paired stunningly well with Le Fabriche’s Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale, which surprised me with its balanced alcohol and gorgeous fruit (and it thrilled the crowd of top-flight wine writers).
The first tastings of the festival begin this morning and then we head out for a winery visit at Pichierri this afternoon (SUPER psyched for that, one of my favorite Apulian producers)… Stay tuned!
That’s the charismatic Alessia Perrucci (left), our host and owner of the agriturismo Masseria Le Fabriche, with Franco Ziliani (center), who’s one of the Radici Wines festival’s curators, and Nicola Campanile (right), festival organizer.
The food at last night’s welcome dinner was wonderful. I LOVED the handmade orecchiette (one of Puglia’s classic pastas) with veal meatballs and pecorino. The chef’s marretto — a loaf made of lamb offal — was also exceedingly delicious…
Do Bianchi 