Our first few days in Putignano and the easiest oven-roasted fish for a light lunch on a summer day.

Plus, a quick and tangy Caper Vinaigrette.

Putignano

Andre's father, the original Bruno Vippolis, was born in Putignano, a small town in Puglia, Italy, and came to the United States when he was twelve. Ten brothers and sisters in total, his family moved to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, where many Italian immigrants had settled and spent the rest of their childhood there. Bruno then met and fell in love with Andre's mom, Lucie, who had also immigrated to the United States from Colombia as a teenager. They moved and started a family of their own in Rockland County, a suburb just outside the city. Both hairstylists and colorists, they built a very successful salon business called Bruno 1, which they ran for forty-four years until selling it in 2020 and retiring in Florida.

Once Bruno left Italy, time spent there was limited to trips through the years, but Andre's father always dreamed of bringing his grandchildren to see the town he grew up in and meet the family that still lives there. So, we decided to make this dream a reality this summer. We rented a beautiful Puglian villa that is part of an old monastery in the countryside just outside Putignano. We'll be here for the next two weeks, spending time together, cooking and eating delicious food, meeting aunts and uncles, cousins, and old friends, and sharing the family history with the boys. Putignano is a charming town filled with whitewashed old buildings nestled between Bari and Alberobello in the Puglia region of Italy. It's particularly known for its Carnevale celebrations, which take place in late December and date back to 1394. The celebrations feature a series of parades, street performances, costumes, and elaborate floats. We will definitely be bringing the boys back here for some Carnevale fun in the future, too.

Our Airbnb in Puglia

On Saturday morning, we left Cala Molinella in Vieste and headed out on our three-hour drive to Putignano. We arrived excited and ravenous into the city center to meet Andre's cousin, Vito, for lunch at La Farmacia in the historic center of Putignano. Tucked away on a cobblestone side street, this restaurant is exactly what I needed. Turin's food is not my favorite kind of Italian food (you quickly learn the food varies greatly from region to region) as there is a heaviness and richness to it, and I've been longing for the fresh, bright, produce-driven dishes of the south. And, of course, more seafood!

The meal at La Farmacia was inspiring and made me so happy to be back in Puglia. First up was a salad similar to a panzanella called la cialledda with crunchy day-old semolina bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, and a few big ice cubes to keep it crunchy and cool. It's SO hot and humid here right now; adding the ice was a brilliant move. Definitely something I will remember on hot summer days in the future. Next was a cold, tender octopus salad with herbs, celery, and carrots. Simple, light, and refreshing. Then, the two fresh kinds of pasta of the day, a buckwheat orecchiette with green beans, pancetta, and pecorino, and a spaghetti with lemon, butter, and caviar. While both were delicious, the spaghetti was a revelation. It was so delicate and restrained. A perfect bowl of pasta, and I absolutely love the elegant touch of a few beautiful beads of caviar without adding too much and overpowering the tangy yet sweet lemon peel. And a plate of creamy fava puree with lots of toppings like pickled cabbage, earthy beets, and bitter chicory. Delicious flavor combinations in each bite.

Lunch at La Farmacia in Putignano

On Sunday, we headed to cousin Vito's beautiful home for a long Italian lunch, where you never want the food to end. Fresh orecchiette in a homemade passata sauce with the tiniest little meatballs, bowls of the most incredible fresh mozzarella I have ever tasted from Altamura, skewers of wood-fired local sausages, and homemade limoncello that was the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Simple food that is satisfying, and you just feel so good after a meal like this. The ingredients in Puglia genuinely are incredible, and I love how you can just serve them as is; they need nothing else, as they are perfect on their own.

It really is a beautiful gift to be here, sharing family history with the boys, spending time with relatives, eating incredible meals, and exploring one of our favorite regions in the world.

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Oven-Roasted Fish With Cucumber Herb Yogurt

Andre's cousin, Vito, told us about an incredible fish shop in Putignano called, I Sapori del Mare, so Andre headed over early on Sunday morning to pick up some ingredients for our upcoming meals at the house. As is customary with the very good fishmongers in Italy, they first have you pick out a whole fish, present it to you, and then you tell them how you would like it prepared depending on how you'll be cooking it. Andre picked out a fresh Spigola, also known as European seabass, which has a mild, light flavor and, when cooked, is a delicate and flakey fish. The fishmonger prepared the fish for him, removing the bones and dividing it into four fish fillets with the skin still on, 3-4 ounces each, and about 1 inch thick at the thickest point.