The last in the series with Claudia Roden Italy
All the main influences of the Mediterranean are found in the cooking of southern Italy. In Sicily, the love of sweet things, the sugar and vinegar in savoury dishes and the currants and pinenuts in sauces for pasta, reflect the early Arab presence.
Around Naples and Salerno, it's tomatoes and pasta, pizza and mozzarella; simple food, simply cooked, that relies on the quality and freshness of the ingredients, the perfume of herbs, and good olive oil. In Puglia, the heel of Italy, there is a feeling of ancient times and of isolation. Here the food is at its most basic, the fish and seafood are in abundance, and the diet is said to be the healthiest in the world.
Photography MIKE SPOONER Film editor JANE ROWSON
Videotape editor PETER FRANCIS Assistant producer CLARE BRIGSTOCKE
Producer MADDALENA FAGANDINI
0 RECIPE TIMES: page 78
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