Ceglie the capital of high cuisine

I would like to be mistaken and flooded by contrary indications but I’m strongly afraid that Ceglie Messapica, a city with 20 thousand inhabitants halfway between Brindisi and Taranto, in Apulia, is one of the very few towns in Italy that welcomes those who arrive by boasting its craveable side: “CEGLIE MESSAPICA Città della Scuola Internazionale di Gastronomia”, can be read on a huge billboard. This is a good sign because the Med Cooking School opened on Saturday March 1st after a trial stage that lasted one year, and with a first course beginning yesterday, Monday March 17th, required the commitment of many people in the last five years.

I was lucky enough to discover Ceglie during the Eighties, when the current generation of the Ricci family, sisters Rossella (in the dining room and cellar) and Antonella (in the kitchen with husband Vinod Sookar, from Mauritius) were in high school and Fornello was where the scented and wise rites held by Angelo and Dora Ricci took place (he is now in paradise, and she’s a grandmother, but still working with pots and pans). The new-born structure is dedicated to the memory of Angelo Ricci, who knew how to look at the world without betraying the soul of his land. Created in the historic centre, inside an old convent that previously held the town hall, it aims at becoming a master course for those who, after attending catering school, are not satisfied with summer training and want to go beyond, focusing on a quality that draws strength from local products and traditions too.

In the eternal match with nearby Ostuni, only 12 km apart, the latter is beautiful while Ceglie is tasty. It has always been the case since it is placed on the road of centennial transhumances and in a hunting territory. Those who passed by knew they could count on accommodation for the night and a hot meal, in a sort of ante-litteram inns. The women of Ceglie had a special touch and poor dishes acquired a rare richness.

The Biscotto cegliese, the biscuit typical in Ceglie, has arrived to our days from that past. It is a cube of toasted almonds, filled with cherry jam, with notes of lemon and a touch of honey. The Slow Food presidium awards those who only use Ceglie’s almonds and a POD is awaited in the future. Panino cegliese is relatively more recent, a michetta style bread filled with tuna, spicy mature provolone, capers (preserved in salt) and mortadella. And there’s much more, a past that today nourishes the activity of mayor Luigi Caroli. Politically right-centre, during the opening he praised his left-centre predecessor, something truly unusual in Italy. Caroli didn’t hide a truth, the fact he found this project inside a drawer. So the honour goes both to the person who had the idea, over five years ago, and to him, who unlike many of his colleagues didn’t let this project become mouldy.

It is nice to see opposite administrations collaborate. During the opening, at the beginning of March, for example, Fabrizio Nardoni, the regional council member for Agricultural and food resources in a council guided by Sel’s leader Nichi Vendola, remembered that regional authorities will soon certify the restaurant sector of this charming land in order to heighten the quality benchmark. As for Ceglie, many have recalled the beauty of the project. It is also a question of being concrete: poetry has a value but the Med Cooking School needs to help the economy, to mark the territory further, and create chefs who know their job. For info: tel. +39.347.0408363, e-mail medcookingschoolceglie@gmail.com.

1. To be continued