Apulia Pasta Making at Sante Le Muse
On my last trip to Italy I travelled to Apulia with my best friend, we did an “Old Italy – Road Trip – Vacation” including having the 50s/60s Italian outfits and of course one of the things on our to-do list was a pasta making course. As usual I didn’t check if I needed reservations so on arrival at our hotel I was informed that these courses need advanced booking (additionally I was there in October where a lot of places are closed during off-season)
Our receptionist had an idea and recommended us Sante Le Muse – a wondrous place to experience the real agricultural part of Italy. The owners produce their own fruits, vegetables, olive oil and what not. For kids you got a huge playground with a miniature house (see pic below) and lots of activities from handcrafts to getting to know veggies from seed to plant.
Their pasta course is actually not something on their website and neither is the restaurant listed where we had one of the best dishes in all Apulia. So make sure that your receptionist arranges your pasta making course or your dinner there via phone call.
The Experience:
The drive there was short and as we got out of the car we were greeted by kittens roaming around the olive grove, picturesque veggie fields, swings and all kinds of petite lovely decorations around the whole front yard (huge field). Meeting the chef (grandma) was a hilarious exchange of signs and broken Italian as she doesn’t speak a word of english but as pasta making is all about passion we were absolutely fine and had a blast. Her daughter translated in her broken english all absolutely necessary words and we were off to a fantastic start.
Making pasta with her was such an exciting and unforgettable experience that I can recommend it as my personal highlight in all Apulia, we even got to look into the kitchen and she told us how she made our dish; a hearty ragout of pork belly with tomato sauce. At last we sat down at our table and enjoyed the food we created ourselves and washed it down with a lot of red wine. (funny side fact: house wine – comes in a canister and tastes incredible – as far as we could tell they get it straight from the vineyard)
Sante Le Muse feels like home and I guess that’s how everyone feels who goes there for fun, learning or dinner. Also we dropped by for two more dinners after that.
Our pasta course included:
Orecchiette (which Grandma told us is too easy and we actually learned how to do it in 10 min) and the holy Sagne Torte. This pasta is much more refined in its structure and a truly Pugliese invention, mostly enjoyed for special occasions as it is indeed a lot of work to make. The end result is pasta that doesn’t need a lot of sauce as each bit will cling to the spirals of the noodles.
Mouth…watering.., brain functions shutting off…. need to go back now.
Strada Comunale Salve Morciano, 3
73050 Salve LE, Italy
Apulia Pasta Making _ Gallery
