In My Kitchen with Paula

Living La Dolce Vita in Puglia with Paola Maggiulli (Part 2)

• Paula Mohammed • Episode 16

Share episode

A look into Paola's Puglia:

This episode of 'In My Kitchen with Paula' features a conversation between host Paula Mohammed and guest Paola, a self-love coach living in Puglia, Italy. Paola shares her journey from a high-paced London life to embracing the serene culture of Puglia, encouraging listeners to find joy and self-love through Italian cooking. 

The episode explores the culinary richness and beautiful landscapes of Puglia, offering insights on local staples, traditional dishes like bombetta and pasticciotto, and tips for making the most of a visit to the region. Paula and Paola discuss the significance of food as a cultural connector and the transformative power of using good ingredients to nurture oneself. They conclude with reflections on creating fulfilling life changes and the beauty of Italian family traditions centered around food.

Here are a few things you will learn from this episode:

00:25 Diving into Life in Puglia with Paola

03:31 Exploring the Beauty of Puglia

18:57 Settling into Life in Lecce

21:57 Embracing the Italian Lifestyle

25:41 Essentials of a Mediterranean Pantry

30:41 Traditional Puglian Cuisine

37:20 Tips for Visiting Puglia

Subscribe, Rate and Review

If you love this podcast and want to give us your support, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.  This goes a long way  in helping us get in front of other culinary adventurers like you!  Just open up your Apple Podcast app and go to the “In My Kitchen with Paula Show” or in this episode, click on the 3 dots in the right corner and click on “Go To Show”.  At the bottom of the Show page, you will have the opportunity to rate and review.


Helpful Links

Get my free planning tool: Paula’s Travel Planning Tool 

Paola’s One Sheet Pan Fish Bake

Get in touch with Paola on Instagram @thetinyitalian or visit her website:  thetinyitalian.com

Tag @inmykitchenpaula to share your culinary adventures abroad especially if you go to Puglia!

In My Kitchen helps culinary adventurers who love to travel to explore new flavours, new dishes, new cultures and I do that  through my cooking classes with my team of hosts from around the world, podcast, and my signature talk:  My 4 Steps To Planning A one-of-a-Kind Trip Through Food..

In My Kitchen helps culinary adventurers wh

SUBSCRIBE, RATE & REVIEW

If you love this podcast and want to give me your support, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. This goes a long way in helping me get in front of other culinary adventurers like you.

Just open up the Apple Podcasts app and go to “In My Kitchen with Paula”. Or, in this episode, click on the 3 dots in the right corner and click on “Go To Show”. At the bottom of the show page, you can rate and review.

SAY HELLO

In My Kitchen creates connections one dish at a time, by exploring culture through food. I do this through unique culinary workshops, speaking engagements, and of course, this podcast.

I'd love to hear from you! Connect with me in one of three ways:

Hi, I'm Paula Mohamed and welcome to In My Kitchen with Paula. This podcast is a gathering place for culinary adventures who love to travel. Every week, we'll come together with chefs, cookbook authors, talented home cooks, and everyone in between to talk about their story and their unique dish. Using food as the vehicle, we'll take a ride into the ins and outs of their culture and country. Come on, let's get this party started. Hi, welcome back to in my kitchen with Paula hope you got a chance to listen to part one of living La Dolce Vita. With Paola if not, no worries. We're going to dive right back in here today, but with a bit more of a focus on. Puglia and we'll talk about life and Puglia Paola's life in Puglia and more insight in how to live the sweet life. Paola has a real sense of self love. And she shares that with her clients and her community. And in this next part, Paola talks more about her program and there's even an opportunity to go and stay with Paola and learn to cook with her in Puglia in her home. And also to learn more about how to love yourself through cooking and embrace the life around you. So enough about me doing all the talking let's hear from Paola. Paola. Why don't you introduce yourself this time? Because after speaking to you, I realized there's a lot more to this, and I think you're the best person to explain it a little bit more in depth to us.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

I'm a self love coach. Basically from that title, you can guess what I do, but I generally help other women fall in love with themselves through nourishing themselves, romancing their life, prioritizing self care, but all through the power of Italian cooking and lifestyle it's the journey that I went on my personally, myself taking on, Taking on all the things that I culturally grew up with, but and want to help other women basically help them realize that there's more to life than just like the hustle and the grind and not to forget about who they are and what their desires and dreams are. And sometimes you can find joy in the most unusual places. And I think the kitchen is one of those places that a lot of people don't seem to enjoy spending time in. But if you transform the way you feel about it, it can be very therapeutic, very fun. And of course, extremely, extremely delicious, which gives you a lot of pleasure. So that's what I essentially do.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

I think that's such a huge gift that you can share with people and to fall in love with being in the kitchen and spending that time, is amazing. And I can't think of any better person to help people go on that journey from the little, you and I've gotten to know each other a little bit over the years, and you just exude, This lovely energy and I'm excited for your future, uh, clients. I know the women that have worked with you have shared some of their stories and it's been amazing. So for our listeners, in part one of this podcast, we actually joined forces to talk about Puglia. And I got so enthralled with what Paola's doing that we spent an hour talking exactly about what Paola does. So if you want to, and I highly encourage you to hear more about it, listen to Part 1, I think it's Season 3, Episode 5. And Paola also shares very generously a lot of the info and tips that only her clients really get a chance to hear. And the fact that you're literally in Puglia doing all this, it just makes it even that much more, uh, special Today though, we're going to move on and actually talk about Puglia. So to back up, Your family heritage on your father's side is from the Puglia region of Italy

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

Yes.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

and you're currently living in Italy in Puglia. Just to set the scene, Tell me what it looks like when you look out your window. I know it's evening there, but just a little bit of your life in the moment in Puglia.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

Okay, you're gonna want like the romance, you're gonna want the hills, the olive trees. I don't have that. I have a gelateria. I have like an amazing ice cream parlor. I live on a really, really busy road. I'm sorry to like bust of like the romance. I live in Lecce, so Puglia is beautiful. It's in the south. Literally covered in olive oil, like olive trees, should I say. It's very flat where I am. But Puglia is actually, there's three regions to Puglia. You've got Gargano up the north, you've got Bari in the middle, and then you've got Salento in the south, which is where I'm from. The further north you go up in Puglia, the more hillier it is. Where I am, it's flat. There are no hills. It's not like Tuscany, which has these beautiful rolling hills and anything like that, but it is beautiful in the sense that you can just see like nature and olive trees. And it's very agricultural. You can see just vegetables growing on every side of the road. When you go down the country lanes, I live in Lecce, which is Seen as like the capital of Solento, which is the southern part of Puglia, and they describe it as the Florence of the South, because it's so beautiful, but it only has 100, 000 people. So it's not very big. At all. but it's very warm blue skies pretty much every day. And that was even in the winter that I did here. I mean, I felt very lucky that I had the most amazing January and February where I actually embraced sunny blue skies every day rather than waking up to like gray skies and rain. There's lots of nature around here, but you know, I don't live in front of a trullo or an apartment building, but my building's built in the seventies, all the tiles in my kitchen, all the tiles on the walls or on the floor, all from the seventies, it is phenomenal. It's one of the reasons why I bought this apartment. Lecce is a great city. I mean, everyone knows Florence, right? I feel like Tuscany has been like the most popular Italian region for years.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Mm hmm.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

I'm seeing, now I've seen, I'm seeing the shift happening in front of my eyes. But now it's like happening, what's happening in Tuscany, where people are, have discovered this part of Italy. It's authenticity, it's beautiful architecture, it's beautiful food. Um, the people are just warm and passionate and funny. Serious road rage, but apart from that,

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

it's interesting because I'm hearing more and more people from, Vancouver, Canada, this area, going to the Puligia. I noticed you don't pronounce the G. Is that right? The G

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

No, Puglia, you've seized the G

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Okay, so I've only been mispronouncing, pretending like I know Italian and mispronouncing it for the last God knows how many years. Puligia. more and more people are going there. so is Lecce where, remind me what the white homes are called that have the, the dome like roofs?

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

Alberobello.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Yeah, see, I would never remember that.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

Alberobello, that is in like near the Bari

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Okay.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

region, so that's like in the center part of Puglia. And that's where you've also got like places like Locorotondo, Ostuni, Monopoli, Polignano di Mare. Those are the areas that I feel like when people think of Puglia, they think of that region.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Right.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

Gargano, which is where the north of Puglia, not so much. I would say Bari is probably the most popular and it's larger in size. So like Bari has 600, 000 people. It's six times larger than Lecce. But I would say that in terms of architectural beauty, Lecce completely outshines Gargano. Like, Bolshoi, it's stunning, it's beautiful, like the block, the Lechese stone, uh, yeah, there's that part of, that's that part of Puglia, and there's this part of Puglia which is Equally as beautiful, but it's very, if you were to drive around the towns that surround, say like Lecce, you're, we're talking about, you still can find like really, we're talking antique, like Roman, you know, these churches that have been around for like hundreds and hundreds hundreds of thousands of years. Uh, in my dad's town, Lecce, um, we do like excavations, archaeological excavations, and have just discovered whole cities, the whole town underneath its own town, it's full of history. It's really full of history. You get these tiny little chapels, like these alfrescoes that were here before Roman times. I don't know, like it's, it's madness, like some of the stuff that you see around here, and they're very, very protective.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

How did a Londoner working in high fashion industry, find her way in the town of Lecce to live of all things. And that's a huge project.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

We touched on the last podcast, right, about how I worked in fashion for 15 years. And then, I went self employed with my whole cooking business. A couple of years before COVID, so 2018. I lived in London my whole life. I never ever, ever dreamt that I would ever leave. I would say, I remember saying to people, you'll never see me live anywhere else but London. I call myself a Londoner rather than English person. I think there's a difference. There's a huge difference between being a Londoner. Unfortunately, after Covid, and because I was self employed, We weren't, well I wasn't personally, my situation meant that I didn't get that much help from the government,

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Mm hmm.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

to support myself financially. I fought tooth and nail for about 18 months to make as much money so I wouldn't lose my flat, I wouldn't lose my home. I had a mortgage. So I did everything and I did have one of the most successful years of my business during lockdown. Like I was really, really busy. It was really amazing. But I think like we touched on my last On a last podcast, Paula, it, that didn't last for very long. I thought that was going to be the business set up for life. Again, like it all disappeared at the beginning of the pandemic, it all disappeared again. And I knew by the end of 2021, that I didn't have an ounce of me left. to fight anymore. I was trying everything. I was trying all these different methods,

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

hmm. Mm

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

business ideas. And it just, and I wanted to do it online because for me, it meant that I didn't have any overheads, cost effectively, it was good. And also I knew that I wanted to know that I didn't have to be in one place. I wanted to know that I could travel and come back to my flat in London, but it just wasn't happening. So very sadly, I made a decision towards the end of 2021 and it was a very hard decision to make because I, I felt like I had failed, which is the most ridiculous thing, but I thought I failed. I failed. I'm selling my flat, my flat that I, I lovingly bought and I bought on my own. I'm now going to have to sell it.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Oh,

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

it literally broke, it broke my heart. My brother said to me, he was like, well, what's the options? I go back to do what I used to do because I used to make a very good salary. I sell the flat and I continue with my quest to do what I'm doing now. And he was like, what do you feel more strongly about? Do you want the house or do you want to be fulfilled? I was like, I want, I want to be fulfilled. He goes, you can buy another house in the future. You don't need it. So he was the one that helped me come to that conclusion. The difference was, is that I was gonna move to a small town on the coast of southeast England called Margate. I dunno if you've heard about it, Paula, but, um, it went during lockdown. Everyone moved to the sea because it was like, and a lot of Londoners started to take over all these sort of like seaside towns like Margate, Ramsgate, Southend, Hastings, St Leonard's. Because I loved those towns, and I knew that a lot of Londoners had moved down there. I was like, that's where I'm going to go next, because I can sell my flat, and I won't need a big mortgage, and I will be financially freer, and blah, blah, blah. So what happened was that I tried to do that, it wasn't meant for me because every time I put an offer on a house, someone had a lot more money than I did and completely pushed me out of it. I feel like if you believe in a universe, the universe gives you, like gives you signs. And after four or five months of looking for this apartment or this house or this home, essentially it went from, I want a house and then because the whole of London moved to the coast, all the prices went up. So essentially what I wanted wasn't going to happen anymore so I just was like, let's park it. I'd moved in with mom and dad at this point. I told him it would only be for three months. At this point, I was like, I don't think it's only going to be three months. I think I'm going to be here longer. And I went to, I went away and that summer after selling the house. My, sorry, selling my flat. I realized that I was extremely burnt out. I had powered through the pandemic. I'd powered through putting the apartment for sale. I'd powered through to just make a little bit of money. And then as soon as I moved to my parents, I was like, well, I don't need to worry about money so much anymore. But then instantly

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

and

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

I'm so tired and I don't know what my next steps are anymore. So I went to Puglia, took a whole month off

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

To cut in, sorry to cut in, but just for those who may not have heard the first one, you were familiar with Puglia because you were, you would go there as a child to visit family,

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

I go to Puglia every year. That was my, that was me from the year I was born. My dad is from Puglia. My family's out there. So every summer without fail, I would go to Puglia. As soon as I'd gone self employed in 2018, I went from only taking a week to 10 days a year to Puglia to spending up to three months a year in Puglia by doing, couple of weeks in winter, spending a lot of time in the summer, like say two months in the summer, then another two weeks. So I started to spend a lot more time in Italy, spent a lot more time in Puglia. So this summer I was like, well, I'm going to spend three months in Puglia. I have got nowhere else to be, and then it was my friend, my friend, Patrizia, um, who is also in Italy. Who also became my lawyer, she was like, Paola, what are you going to do when you go back? I was like, I don't know, I have to live with mum and dad. I don't know where I want to live. And she was like, have you looked into the prices in Lecce? And for me, Lecce is like, for me, and still is, it's such a beautiful city. How the hell am I going to afford a place in Lecce? And she's have you actually looked at the prices? And I was like, no, but I'm just assuming. She's like, look at the prices. I looked at the prices and I was like, Oh, I could get a really nice place in Puglia. And it could be like twice the size, what I used to have in London.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Wow.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

And I don't have to have a mortgage. So I was a bit like, it felt good. Like it felt good and I have to say the process of buying it. For a good six to eight months, I put the effort in. I would fly out at least every six weeks. It actually got to April 2023. So last year, and I was starting to get a bit like, Oh, is this meant to happen? This is taking quite a while. I ended up finding an apartment that looked perfect. So I rang the agency anyway, arranged to see it. I said, you have to tell me like as soon as possible, because I don't live there. I need to book a flight. Yeah. Yeah. Don't worry. We'll let you know. They ended up calling me while I was sitting in London going, we are going to see the flat tomorrow. Aren't we, Mrs. Magid? I was like, no, no, I'm not there. You didn't call me. I told you. I eventually got a friend to go and see it for me, which was very kind. she's called Carla. And she's one of those friends that, you know, she's very, she's very direct.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Efficient, right? I can

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

efficient. She knows what she likes and she knows what she doesn't like. And she's not afraid to tell you whether she does or she doesn't. she's perfect for this because if it's, and she actually came out a half an hour later going, you need to come and see it. The problem was, is that I was flying to New York two days later for two weeks. And I was what am I going to do? I'm going to lose it. So long story short, I managed to get, I kept the agency. Peaked their interest by sending a friend who was a builder technician. I went, Luca, please go and have a look at the apartment from a builder's point of view. Does it need a lot of work? Because if it's, if it's a yes, I'm going to say no, because I can't afford the work. He then messages while I'm in New York going, Paola, you need to come and see this flat, if anything. And I'm like, what? This is great, but this is not what I wanted to hear. So what I ended up doing, Paula was that I booked a flight. So I flew back on a Wednesday night to London. I got the red eye. I flew back on the red eye on Wednesday night, arrived to London Thursday morning, dropped off my luggage, changed, packed a rucksack for two days, then went to my parents place, because at the time I'd lived with a girl from London for a little while, so I was like staying with her for a bit. So I was living with her, packed my suitcase, so I was like staying with her for a bit. Went to my parents and then the next morning at three in the morning on the Friday morning, I was catching a bus to Stansted airport to go to Puglia

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Oh, geez.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

to then see the flat. And then on the Monday, so I saw the flat, I walked in. It wasn't a case of, do I want this flat or not? It was like, what do I need to do to this flat? Like I knew that this flat was mine. And then on the Monday I placed an offer and then it kind of was back and forth for a few months, but yeah, that's how, and it all went seamlessly in the sense of, I didn't have that many issues. From all these horror stories that I hear about people trying to buy property in Italy, it was the most seamless, seamless. thing that meant, it meant that it was meant for me. This is where I'm meant to be right now.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

It's a perfect example. When one door closes, another door opens and it's just sometimes having the courage or being forced to close that door. So congratulations and kudos to you for taking those steps because that would be, you'd be, you would have felt I'm sure very untethered there for a while.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

was like, what am I doing?

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Yeah. You know, it's funny because I think, I first met you a couple of years ago now and you were going back to, forth to Puglia from London. And for some reason, I thought you had bought a place earlier. I didn't realize it was as recent as just last year. What's life been like since you've moved in? Sounds like it's been pretty amazing.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

Yeah, that's amazing.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

When your friends come to visit you now, where are the spots that you take them? Like recommendations, if someone's going to be in Lecce,

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

so all my spots. Don't ask me what that church is or who's it for. I am not one of those people. Like, it's pretty.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

You're in good company. This

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

I am

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

food and drink.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

a terrible tourist guide. My favorite spots in Leche. My favorite spot to eat at is not even a restaurant. It's this woman called Valeria, and it's called Quin and it's street food. And she has a kitchen, it's literally a hole in the wall. She's got this kitchen and she makes, I think she's got like eight to 10 dishes on one menu, which is like all the pastas. The parmesan and the vegetables and on the other side she has four sandwiches. that is made with meatballs, one with horse meat, they eat horse meat here, parmigiana, and then another thing. That's it. That's all you can order. And she uses the best ingredients. She cooks with so much love. The food brings tears to you. I'm literally just like, I love her food so much. Her place is the only place that I would happily go and eat. If I didn't want to cook. I'm going to go to Quinton. I wouldn't feel bad. I actually would be like, this is a really nice treat. Actually, I'm loving myself today because I'm going to go and have something that's equally made by love, but by someone else. That is, one of my favourite spots. I'm thinking if I wanted to have like a nice aperitivo, you know, like a nice little drink, there is a cafe which has been there for years, and it's on Piazza Ronso, Piazza, Piazza Ronso, it's called Cafe al Vino, and they sell all the traditional Italian pastries, and you can get a really nice aperitivo there, and it's really good for money.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Are you missing your London life, nightlife?

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

Sometimes. Only because I'm a huge music lover and how Italy is known for its cuisine and its food, the UK is known for its amazing music scene and I love live music. I love to dance and I'm trying really hard to find somewhere where I can experience that. But I've also just, I always knew when I moved here or when I was gonna live here for half of the year that I knew that was just something that was just it. The nightlife. Nightlife here is great. I mean, I'm not going to the clubs that all the young people are going to because they're all super, super young. I don't want to do that here either. I've come to live here for another reason. I've come here for the culture, I've come here for the community vibe that's here. I've come for Just, I can't explain, just a slower pace of life that even if I, even though I managed to create balance in my life in London through my own self love journey and through cooking and eating well, even though I created that balance, you still can't get away from the hustle and bustle. And I got to a point in my life where I was like, I don't thrive off that hustle and bustle anymore. That's the thing. It's like, it's just very easy here. And even when, when I lived in London, I would say for the last few years, especially pre COVID, I felt very alone. just think it's very disaffecting, but I'm here on my own, but I don't feel alone here. I, I love my own alone time, but I know that I'm not that far away from It feels very different. Even though I know I've got all my friends and family in London, it just feels very, a big city. You're such a small pawn in such a big city, but in here, it's different. everyone that I surround myself with here, like, know who I am and I know who they are and that's just something that I was definitely craving a lot after COVID. It was like, I need a little bit of that. I just don't want to be just this person living on their own.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

I think after people have listened to these two podcast episodes or even just five minutes of listening to you talk, questions going to come up. Am I able to go to Puglia and cook with Paola in her home? Is that going to be something in the future?

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

Yes. So I have this method. Which is called, Cook, Eat, Love. Like, you know, Julia Roberts in the movie Eat, Pray, Love. Takes, you know, an element of that. Everything I currently do is all online, but the idea is that women who want me to help them to find themselves and, transform their relationships with oneself. means that there's, these one to one programs that I'm offering that also offer an opportunity to do that with me in Italy. You can experience all my learnings. In all, in all my teachings and teach you how to cook in a way that doesn't cause you stress or overwhelm at the simplicity of it. I understand the beauty of the Mediterranean diet because I know that when people think of Italian food, they think surely Italian food isn't healthy. They think it's pasta and pizza, but where I'm from in Puglia, it's a very, it's very heavily steered by the Mediterranean diet. So for me to give women the opportunity to come and visit me in Italy, it's not, I would say it's, this is not just a normal cooking course. This is an experience where I will help you to discover your love for yourself. And we do that through cooking food and understanding the importance of like how to cook. Food can make you feel happy and pleasured and good and all those sort of things. It's not just being in Italy. I think people should do this in wherever they are. Like, I don't, it's just, I just feel like what I've learned. And I'm pulling on my knowledge and my culture. I'm just picking out the things that worked for me and I can help people, but you can love yourself through this form in any country. It doesn't have to be and that's the thing. That's the, not the struggle, but that's the thing I'm trying to teach people. You can love the Italian lifestyle, but you don't have to be in Italy to experience it. you can experience it anywhere.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

I wanted to ask you a little bit more about the cuisine around where you are in the food. You said it's a lot like the Mediterranean diet. What are staples that are in your fridge and pantry or are you shopping to the markets every other day? What does that look like in your kitchen?

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

I have like staples in my store cupboard, Essentials that I cannot live without. So things that are very common here, but I go through the simple quick root is first of all, legumes, jarred, legumes, chickpeas, cannelini beans, balotti beans. Even lentils, That's what's always sitting in my store cupboard. Tinned tomatoes, anchovies, capers, olives, pasta and rice. Okay. So those are like the essentials. And then I have things like parmesan, lemon, and eggs, are like my other things. And then, things like, to help with flavoring, always have onion, always have garlic, always have olive oil, always have wine, always have stock. That's my store cupboard. Like, that's what I have all the time. And then, what I do, is then I go out and buy my fresh food, maybe every two to three days. Based on what is available and based on my mood. Because it is a mood. Food is a mood. So I always teach my clients, as long as you've got those essentials in your cupboard, you cannot tell me that you cannot create a meal out of that. There is no excuse because you've got everything. You've got the carb element to it. And then you've got like the saltiness through anchovies and capers and olives. Then you've got the acidity through lemons. You've got the, umami, saltiness, creaminess from like parmesan. You've got flavorings from wine and stock like this, that you've got everything. And then it's just that's all there to give you enhance your ingredients. I will walk out of my apartment, and I kid you not, I have a greengracer, a butcher's, a fishmonger, like, I call it, cacificio, which is where they make fresh cheese. a bakery, all within 100 meters from my front door. You can just tell by what is available to you here shows you what is culturally perceived as important. It's the, so what I say about places like the UK, the US, I don't know, I've never been to Canada, so I don't know what it's like in Canada, but like Australia, they have created environments. When people say that they, they don't eat well, I say, first of all, do not blame yourself. It's not your fault. A, we're not educated properly in schools, first off, and two, these Western countries are unfortunately, without me sounding like a conspiracy theorist, but they're in the hands of big corporates in the last 20 30 years, we've created environments that for people where it doesn't make it easy for them to shop fresh local ingredients. They don't make it easy. Sometimes you have to travel really far to get to a supermarket. It's not on your doorstep. And then in place of those, you have lots of, you have the likes of all these takeaway delivery couriers that come to your door. You've got all these other companies telling you don't worry about what you have to think about cooking tonight because we'll deliver everything into a box for you and you can then cook it. When I'm in the UK and I just see the amount of delivery, people just driving all over the place and then you come to a place like here you see like one bike night, right? The environment in Italy is set up to tell you. This is what you should be buying and eating. And even though there are supermarkets, and again, you've got a supermarket, even the supermarkets are set up in a way that are just friendly and fun. Everyone knows that you go and pay at the cash till and the woman's having a gossip and you're having to wait ages to get your food through the till, but who cares? The woman, who her job is to put the food through the till, is having the time of her life having a goss. Rather than those miserable people that you see back home just sitting there just bib, bib, bib, just trying to get through as quickly, there's just a whole different different values. You come to somewhere like Lecce, and I feel like I've traveled most of Italy. And I feel like when I traveled around these big cities, they all had these big food markets and they, there were all these local independents. They are still not being overrun by like big corporations yet. Not even in Milan, not even up north, it's still, you still have your local traders.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

In Vancouver, anyway, in Canada, we're definitely in the last 10 years, there's been a movement to more farmer's markets are highly valued now. It's a little more expensive, but it's not quite the same, but definitely there's a shift trying to support local and buy fresh. Going back to, when we talked about the food that's valued and how this valued in Italian cuisine in. Puglia, how things have changed since you used to visit Puglia as a kid and now living there, what are, say, three of the biggest differences that you've found, if any, and secondly, are there traditional dishes known for the region that you're in, in Puglia?

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

So to your first question, what have I noticed differently? What would I say are the biggest differences? I guess families are smaller. I You know, I remember with my nonna being alive, there was at least 12, 15 people who always sat around the table. Those days don't happen anymore, but you just have. That on a regular basis, and again, yeah, I feel that's one of the things. I think families are getting smaller. I would say that there are, even though there is this still culturally, you've got the food shops, you've got the local trades, whatever. I do have friends that live here that are from here and they have terrible cooking mindsets. The problem is, is that the generation before me, you know, these are all the mums that probably were still living, weren't working mums. No, not all of them, or there was just more, there was more of an inclination to cook. So I feel like some of, say my generation, don't cook the way that their mums cook. Like my friend's mums cook the way that their grandmothers probably cooked, right? But I feel like my generation, It's kind of like how it is in other Western countries, but the difference is, is that my generation here, those that don't cook, they still understand the importance of eating well and understand the importance of communal eating and things like that. So it's still part of their life. It's just not something that they do a lot themselves. So that would be something that I've noticed, but not everyone, just a few people. I think this, the last thing that I think is just quite common in, and this isn't even a food thing, but just like a culture thing, I just think the way, again, people interact with each other, but I think that's not an in Puglia thing I think that's just a global thing, everyone uses phones and stuff like, like now.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Is it a lot busier? I'm just curious, like, is it getting overrun with tourists,

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

Oh, Italian tourism, oh yeah, it's way busier.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Yeah, yeah,

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

To the point where I'm a bit like, want this to slow down. Because for me, I selfishly don't want it overrun by loads of

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

I've heard the same thing said from good friends that are Portuguese about Portugal and also about Japan as well from people who live in Japan. Yeah, it's just getting almost too much. Traditional foods. I don't actually, it's funny because I like to think I know a lot about Italian cuisine, but it's because I've learned it from our In My Kitchen host, Melissa, but she's from Umbria. So I actually don't know much about Puglian. I would assume seafood is in there somewhere.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

part of, for example, if something, let's, let's do something that isn't pasta related

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Mm hmm.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

so we have something called bombette, which is meat. So the traditional, there's different flavors of bombetta, right? So you get these at the butcher and it's the traditional flavor is it's pork neck, so it's thinly sliced pork neck, which then has, parmesan breadcrumbs, bit of parsley, sometimes you might have like a bit of ham in there, whatever as well, and then you just you just roll it so it's like a very thin slice of pork with this cheese bread crumb, parsley filling, then you roll it and then they have two or three on a stick and then you grill it on a barbecue or you can also cook. And that here you get all different flavours. So then you get ones with like gorgonzola, or you get ones with rocket and parma ham inside. Like all these different, you can get loads of different ones. So that's very traditional here. In terms of pasta though, we have the little shapes called orechiette, so they're like really like little, like the but obviously everyone always thinks like pasta, tomato sauce and pasta, but what they have here is like chimadirapa, so it's like turnip top, so it's the big leaves. And they eat that here. That's quite a traditional dish another thing that I always say to people if they come here, they should get the, it's an Italian pastry, which is actually more for my region, Solento, than anywhere else, which is called, pasticciotto. So it's basically really sweet, thick shortcrust pastry boats. So it's got pastry on the top and on the bottom. And inside the traditional flavors. Packed with creme pat, creme patisserie. But some have quite, again, depending what bakery you go, some will have a hint of lemon, some won't. Everyone has different ways of doing things. There isn't just one recipe for one thing. Everyone does their own thing. But I would say if you wanted to try something a little bit different, try, The bombette for sure. You get them on most, get them in most restaurants now here. If you're going to eat pasta, eat the pasta with the green chimaderappa rather than just a regular tomato meat sauce. And then for pastry have the, yeah have the pastichotto, which you don't really get in restaurants, you get them in like a pastry shop. That's another thing about here. When you go and eat a restaurant, you have your antipasti, your primi, which is usually your pasta or rice. Your secondo, which is your meat. And then you have the dolce, which is a dessert. But the antipasto is what always blows my mind, because you always get like a selection of all these different vegetarian dishes. If you go to like a masseria, which is like an ancient farmhouse, they've turned them into a lot of restaurants. You can just ask for the antipasto, and I swear to God, you won't want to eat a thing. And then the pasta comes out, and then the meat comes out, and you're bursting at the seams, and you just don't know what to do with yourself. But you have to just remember, now I'm just a bit like, I ain't, no one's going to kick me off this table. So I'm going to sit here and eat this very slowly and graze and enjoy it and drink wine and all that sort of stuff. Also all the bread stuff here is very good as well. Like the focaccia, the focaccia from Bari is sensational with the tomatoes. I'm actually quite hungry now. I'm like, Oh, I might, I may have to grab a slice of pizza on the way to the pub. That's a difference. You grab a slice of pizza here. It's just tastes so much better than you get. Good. If I grabbed a slice of pizza in London, if I got it from any other place, it would taste awful, but here it's just so delicious and fresh.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Fantastic. Is there anything else that you want to share with us about, pulia or Lecce

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

If you're going to come to Puglia, there's three things you need to consider, especially if you're coming to this part of Puglia, that's for sure. One, do not rely on public transport.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

okay. Great point.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

Drive if you can, it will just make life easier for you. There are some great train connections to some places, but there's some real hidden gems that you cannot get to by public transport. So, hire a car. I would avoid mid July and August like the plague. If you don't want to just feel stressed about how many people there are and the heat, the heat is unbearable. So unless you love 40 degree heat, stay away. And then thirdly I would say always try and learn a little bit of Italian. Just not so much for the young generations, like everyone has a good grasp of English to a certain point, but you also have, I feel like you have to respect the old generations that, that didn't grow up on learning. in a second language or didn't grow up speaking English. And there's a lot of these beautiful places, these services, these restaurants, these bars that are family run and, I always feel like if you want to enjoy the best experience in Puglia, by showing someone that you are, you're stepping into the culture and you're respecting them by trying to speak it, even if you only end up saying three words in Italian, I have seen it with my own eyes, seeing someone see that you try and you want to get to know them and that they're not just there to service you, but you're actually there. There's a lot, there's, that's something that I'm very much, I've seen tourists do and it really upsets me because it's like, hold on, this isn't Disneyland,

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Yep. Right.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

country culture. Learn to say a few things because what will happen when someone realizes that you're not from there but you're putting all this effort to try and communicate or do something. You might end up at someone's house for Sunday lunch. Like, that's

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

that. Exactly. Yeah.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

so that's always what I always say to people, just always try and speak a little bit of Italian. Even if you don't end up using it a lot, just try in certain situations. It will get you so much further and you will end up possibly experiencing something that someone else doesn't just because they haven't tried speaking a bit of Italian.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Those are great tips. I'm so glad you included that. And I'm so glad you brought that up about, um, making an effort to speak to the people who are serving you and in their language. I do, these talks for travel clubs and online. It's about how I immerse myself before I leave on my travels in the culture, but then exploring culture through food, like the whole In My Kitchen with Paula podcast is all about. But one of the things that I grew up with was my dad was so good, Paola, at talking to, people, whether it be the waiter or the guy that put out the beach chairs, in the morning or. He never thought twice about it, but he created these friendships. And then through that, we got, as a family, I remember being on a family's coffee plantation Dad went pig hunting. You get these, these doors open up I think it's so amazing. And if you can do it through learning, a little bit of the local language as well, even better, it's been so fun chatting to you, this episode and the one that we did first off as well. I think a visit to Paola and Lecce would definitely be on my list to do some cooking and, you know, I will. I would love to come and visit and cook with you. And I can see your kitchen. My listeners can't, but it's this beautiful bright yellow fridge in the background, red and white tiles, wood framed glass cabinets. Anyway, really, really fresh. But Paula, I'm just, I'm really excited. it's so exciting and fun to hear someone's. story and the journey that you've been on. And just to see the hard work that you've put in and to see you enjoying your life and where you're at and you worked hard for it. kudos to you. I think you, there's a lot that we can learn from the way you live life. So thanks for sharing all that you have with us.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

No, you're welcome. It's my pleasure. I just want other people to realize that if you're not feeling, if something doesn't feel right with your life right now, I know sometimes people feel like you can't change it and I know people have different circumstances, you don't have to always sit. In this feeling of like, this will just do, I want people to know that you can always strive for better. And it doesn't have to be moving to Italy, it doesn't have to be moving country, but my whole journey getting here is a reflection of listening to what I really wanted and making it happen in however way I've gotten here. I've managed to do it because I feel like I just realized that I wanted better for myself. I wanted more. So if anyone's listening out there, it's like you all deserve more. You've just got to believe in yourself.

audioPaulaMohammed21569717990:

Absolutely. Thanks, Paola.

audioPaolaMaggiulli31569717990 (1):

Thanks for having me, Paula.

I can never get enough of LA Dolce, Vita, and Paola I just love talking to people as you know, from different countries, especially Italy. I have to say I'm so excited because my good friend, Selena, who I always feel like I want to call after I do these podcast interviews, she's passionate about travel and food is just arrived back from Italy and happens to be literally in my kitchen on Her way home to the Vancouver island. Selena so glad you're here. Welcome to In My Kitchen. Ciao. Paula so great to be here so this is a good friend that calls me Paola. Okay. So just quickly as we wrap this up, I really loved talking to Paola and she, I don't know if you've heard the first episode yet with her, but she talks about, loving herself through cooking and for busy women who don't get a chance to cook for themselves. It's important to take the time to use good ingredients, nurture ourselves with nutrients and taste. And what's it like for you? Cause I know you are busy, you live on your own. And I know you love food. Yes. Like so many of us busy, busy, busy with work and life. And, but I do love. I kind of look at it and it always reminds me when I take a trip, like the one I just had to Italy. About how good food and good eating is kind of like taking yourself to the spa almost. It's just so lovely to nourish your body and treat yourself to something like that. You know? All the good, the tastes, the good feels, the good memories that the food brings to this trip that we took was a lot about family. I call it the Familia in Italia. My dad's Italian I'm half Italian. He was born there and it was visiting a lot of his cousins and their family. And it was all centered through food. Isn't that amazing? It's so interesting. How, in other parts of the world, it's valued that connecting over food with each other and. And really showing how, uh, they care about you through food, really? I mean, that was the big, big thing. Every family that we went to had a big, special meal prepared for us. It was great. Oh, that's fantastic. You know, I always say that. That's how I show my love for people is I love cooking for people. And it's interesting. So I'm just connecting the dots. Now what Paul is really saying is we need to do that for ourselves. As well, right hence self-love. Okay. It took out how many hours of interviewing. Anyway, Selena, I know your jet, like. So glad that you were here and I'm going to call you after these podcasts interviews. Let's debrief it. Like we, uh, always chat, chat, chat. Sounds. Good Sounds. good.

People on this episode

Contributor

Paula Mohammed

Host