GARGANO

It's a mountainous area that extends into the northern Apulia. The word "Gargano" probably derives from the Greek Gargareo, which means bubble, because of waves and winds in the shores. According to others it would be a word of Phoenician origin, which indicates a high stony mountain.

Historical Information: This area was inhabited since the Palaeolithic and the discovery of paintings into caves demonstrate it. In the early sixth millennium BC the inhabitants of the Gargano, hitherto devoted to hunting and harvesting, learned the practices of sheep-farming and agriculture, becoming static and making several villages rise. Between the ninth and eighth centuries BC this area was colonized by people coming from the opposite shore of the Adriatic Sea and the Aegean islands, forming the Daunian ethnicity, to which the funerary stones, found in the territory, belong. Between the fourth and third centuries BC Gargano, and the whole Apulia, were subjected to the Roman Empire, but it was excluded from the main roads (Via Appia Traiana and Via Litoranea). Siponto and Vieste became prosperous ports, important for trades with the Greek side, but the Roman influence was not much felt throughout the Gargano promontory. After the fall of the Roman Empire the area was full of swamps and marshes, which were affected by malaria, then came the Byzantine and Saracen invasions which forced the inhabitants to abandon the coast and take shelter inland. Gargano was afflicted by a serious regression both demographic and economic, so the forest invaded again the crops. This phenomenon was kept back by the birth of the cult of the Archangel Michael, whose shrine at Monte Sant'Angelo became an obligatory stop for pilgrims to the Holy Land. To the ancient mule tracks were added new routes, along which new settlements and places of worship arose. After the Lombards the Byzantines arrived and the various dominations by Normans, Suevians, Aragonese and Angevin followed one another. From the fifteenth century the Gargano was divided between various lords, a situation that persisted during the French-Spanish war, under Spanish rule and under the Bourbons one; and that ended only with the unification of Italy.

WINE AND FOOD

Principal ingredient of Gargano cooking is bread, especially the “bruschetta”, made with toasted bread seasoned with olive oil and tomatoes, onion and oregano. The bread is used also in soups. We have then the “tiella di patate”, potatoes baked with cheese and breadcrumbs. Among the vegetables there is the “Fava di Carpino” (bean), both as side-dish and first course. Characteristic the antipasto with seafood, “fragagghiamme” is a speciality, it’s raw fish.

Typical second courses include meat, such as sausages, capocolli and torcinelli.

Cheeses of the Gargano are Canestrato Pugliese and Caciocavallo Podolico.

Fruit and vegetables are important in this region, including Citrus of Gargano, maturing throughout the year: “Durette” in the Christmas period, in April-may you find the oranges, keeping juicy and sweet on trees until September. Moreover we have Limoncella, Melangolo, Femminello del Gargano.

“Beneditte” is a typical Easter dish, consisting of boiled eggs, salami, cheese and sliced oranges.

On every table there is the olive oil, produced by local olive growers. Among these we recall the Dauno PDO.

Among the most fine wines, Moscato was served to the table of Bourbons; il Macchiateli, il vino d'Aneli, il vino di Mastrociani, il Pampanone, il Nardobello, il rosso Neretto produced in the area of Monte Sant’Angelo. Among the DOC wines we have the San Severo, table wine as red, white, rosé and sparkling; il Rosso Cerignola; l’Orta Nova red and rosé; very special is the Cacc'e Mmitte of Lucera, produced with an old process.

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