LOCATION

APLUVIA Cooking is strictly related to southern Italy, especially to the region of Puglia. Our brand promotes consumer awareness of the product origin and quality. Most of APLUVIA Cooking’s products are completely made of raw materials from Puglia, one of the most important Italian regions in the agriculture sector as well as the wine and food sector. The region has a typical Mediterranean climate and is almost entirely washed by the sea, the land is warmed by the sun all year around, the air is softened by the sea breeze and the rainfall is limited mainly to the winter months. The soil is rich of minerals and, together with the mild climate, there are the ideal conditions for growing fruits and vegetables of a high nutritional value. The region produces almost a third of the Italian olive oil and durum wheat and is the major producer of the plum tomato (the number one choice for many famous international chefs).

CUISINE

In Puglia and generally in Southern Italy, the cuisine plays a key role. People enjoy eating good quality food, often together with a nice glass of local wine, chatting at the table. Being surrounded by the sea and having mite climate the whole year, Puglia is traditionally a region with excellent production of wine, extra virgin olive oil, fruits, vegetables, durum wheat and seafood. The cuisine is truly Mediterranean; the best extra virgin olive oil is used almost for everything (even for pastries), pasta is made with the best durum wheat, very sweet and juicy tomatoes are used for salads or excellent sauces. Legumes, such as fava beans, lentils or chickpeas, are eaten very often. The cuisine has ancient peasant traditions and has been handed down from mother to daughter for centuries.

BRIEF HISTORY OF APULIA

It is very difficult to resume such a long lasting and intense history as the Apulian one. There are even different opinions for the origin of the name “Puglia”. Some say that the name comes from “a-pluvia” (land without rain), others “lapudia” (land inhabited by the Iapigi people). It seems that the original meaning is never to be found and shall be a mystery forever.
The region was already inhabited by “civilized” populations in 3000 B.C., but there are even older findings, as “l’uomo di Altamura” (the man of Altamura, a Homo Neanderthalensis skeleton), which has been dated between 128.000 and 187.000 years ago.
In the region’s millenary history, it has been invaded or ruled by several different populations, thus its architecture, culture and food have a bigger diversity than can be found elsewhere.
The Templar Knights departed from its coasts to reach the Holy Land of Jerusalem, during the Crusades. One of the world’s most important saints, San Nicola (the original inspiration for the Santa Claus stories), is buried in the Basilica of Bari, where three sailors brought his bones from Myra in 1087.

GEOGRAPHY

Situated in the Southeastern end of the Italian peninsula, Puglia covers over 19,000 Km2 of broad plains and low-lying hills. The central area of the region is occupied by the Murge, a vast karst plateau and the Itria Valley.
Puglia is a very dry region. Its few rivers are torrential and the Tavoliere delle Puglie, a tableland at the foot of the Gargano promontory, is one of the largest and agriculturally most productive plains in Italy. Elsewhere, rainwater permeates the limestone bedrock to form underground watercourses that resurface near the coast and groundwater is therefore abundant.
During millions of years, the dissolvent action of the rain on the limestone ground has transformed the surface soil to the famous Apulian “terra rossa” (the red soil), which is particularly rich of minerals. Due to the considerable fertility of the soil, its consistence is a fundamental factor for agriculture diversity and quality.

AGRICULTURE

Between the sixth and the fourth millennium A.C., the practice of agriculture reaches Puglia and Italy, for the first time, from the Middle East (see the archeological site of Passo di Corvo). Agriculture did not expand on the entire territory because of the numerous wars.
Then since the 1860’s, pushed by hunger and armed only with the will to improve his conditions, the Apulian farmer did, despite of indescribable sacrifices, transform wild and arid soils full of stones, to rich and producing agricultural lands. He freed the land from the superficial lime stones and used them to build houses (ex.: “Trulli” houses) and raise walls to mark the boundaries and limit the erosive action of the waters. Millions of grape, olive, almond, and other trees have been planted realizing a gigantic work.
Today, the agricultural sector in Puglia has one of the highest number of operators (approx. 10% of the total working-force). The production volumes and the variety of cultivation are high and Puglia is on first place in Italy for agricultural surface used for permanent tree cultivation. The region produces big quantities of olives, grapes, almonds, durum wheat flour, tomatoes, red and green peppers, hot peppers, salads, artichokes, fennels and other vegetables. Despite the big productions, it is still possible to find many small local productions of varieties of vegetables which are not much diffused like “cipolla di Acquaviva” (big red onion), “cipolla di Zapponeta” (sweet red onion, due to soil very rich of limestone), “lampascioni” (bitter small onions), etc.