Solari Goats

Warning – this is not all together a happy tale.

It has been a rollercoaster ride, for sure.  After the arrival of our two pregnant does a week before Christmas we paused to wonder what on earth we had done.  Two “wild” animals, each the size of a fairly large dog, staring strangely at us and charging in the other direction whenever we approached.  How on earth were we going to make friends, gain trust, assist in births if necessary – let along milk them!?

Day by day though, with a little coaxing, a lot of patience, and huge amounts of treats, they started to take food from our hand, come toward us when we went in the paddock and staring a little less fearfully.  The major advance was when we managed to get their collars on them, not an elegant manoeuvre, but we can now handle them and, importantly, get them on a lead to take them to the meadow.  Walking your goats in the meadow is a wonderful thing to do on a warm sunny winter’s day; less so in gales and rain, but a goat needs their pasture, as well as their bonding.

And then, the saddest thing.  Comparing the two goats and their evidence of pregnancy, one was far larger and more uddery than the other, and I was starting to worry.  So I wasn’t totally surprised when I found that one of them had miscarried.  I’ll spare you the gruesome details, enough to report that the doe is now fine and her spirits back to normal.

Today we have a spa session planned.  For haircuts and manicures read cutting-out-of-dreadlocks and hoof-re-shaping.  Might give those muddy knees a little scrub too!

 

Got Goats!

At last, our goats have arrived!  Firstly, let me reassure you (if you need reassuring) that they are securely (I hope) penned in at home, not on the Trullo Solari grounds.  We’ve been talking and planning and debating and re-thinking and finally waiting and waiting for our chosen goats to be sure to be pregnant.  And at last, they’re safely installed in with the chickens in the 400 square metre pen at the back of our house.  We have two females, both pregnant, with kids due at the end of February.  I think that it’s safe to say we’ve gone in at the deep end.  But we wanted to be sure to have a good milk supply, and probably a little meat.  But that’s a question to be dealt with later… 

For now our priority is to tame them a little.  They’ve been on a farmyard with “right to roam”, and are not used to much human contact on a day to day basis.  If we’re going to be assisting births and milking, that will obviously have to change.  Already within three days we have progressed from them charging away from us at first sign, to eating their luxury muesli mix (with fave beans and carob!) from the bucket in my hand this morning.

So, all being well, Trullo Solari guests will be treated to fresh goats’ milk and cheese this summer.  And in case that’s not to your taste, we’re sure that you’ll enjoy the goat’s milk and olive oil soap.  Either way, if you want to stop by and say hi to them, hopefully they’ll be brave enough to say ciao back.

 

Christmas at Trullo Solari

My family has been lucky enough to holiday twice at Trullo Solari. The first time during the summer that they opened, in the over 40c heat. Phew!
Then we returned for Christmas 2009 with our extended family.
What an amazing place to get away from it all. There were 7 of us staying in the house, and 2 more visiting every day. But we never felt crowded or that we needed more space.
The weather was lovely and mild, the rain stayed off so we could make pizzas in the outdoor pizza oven on Christmas eve. There were long walks on the beach or in the lanes around the Trullo, and shopping for last minute ‘stuff’ in town.
When it got chilly in the evenings, we lit a big log fire in the fire place and played silly games or watched DVD’s and dozed. On other evenings we made the expedition into one of the surrounding towns or villages and went and found wonderful local food. The annual Natale celebration was going on in Ostuni, and we went and took part in the parade of people admiring the nativity scenes and visiting the cathedral.
Getting away from the crazy shoppers and parties in London and having a fun family Christmas with Aunts, Uncles and Cousins made it an occasion we all remember.

Maggie

 

Olive Oil Pressing

This is the seventh year that we have had the pleasure of harvesting our own olives, and still there is nothing like the taste of fresh olive oil.  Sure, part of the pleasure is derived from the fact that you have been toiling for the past two days to pick the olives, but even once the physical exhaustion has passed, the green spicey oil makes favourite everyday dishes seem like new.

Last week we did our earliest ever harvest, in twenty degree sunshine.  The oil is amazing, spicey but without the “afterburn” that you sometimes get from fresh oil in the back of the throat.  Phil and Yvette were here helping, and these photos that Yvette took tell the story better than I can…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Battles with Nature

This week has been one of contrasts, good news followed with bad, followed with good. Sometimes we always seem to be battling against nature, and then rewarded by her huge acts of kindness.

A few weeks ago our bees deserted their two hives. We only got them last May and everything seemed to be going to schedule; then one and a few days later the other left home en mass. Our supplier’s theory is that they had a mite (still trying to translate Varroa) and they left to see if they could shake it. Then, this week, when we went to pack the empty hives up until we try again in the spring, we found a few hundred bees had returned to one of the hives. I can’t imagine that such a small number will survive the winter, but we’ve got them a sugar feeder and crossing our fingers.

Our next insect encounter was with the dreaded Rhinoceros Beetle that is systematically destroying so many of the palm trees around the Mediterranean. The beetle is an inch long and up to 2000 new beetles can emerge from an infested palm. Ever since our neighbours lost one of their trees we have been diligent, and it was only an impromptu visit to Trullo Solari when we noticed some drooping fonds on one of our two palms. We returned that day with chain saw and insecticide – our first use in six years of organic gardening – and fought back. As we trimmed the lower branches and sprayed the poison we could hear what sounded like a Doctor Who alien attack as the big bugs munched through our palm. Luckily the next day we returned and the munching had stopped, along with the satisfying sight of dead beetles. Hopefully we’ve saved the palm, although it has a pretty severe short back and sides.

Otherwise we’re ripening pumpkins, cauliflower heads are poking through and the citrus trees are coming in to bloom. We’ve also been gifted a dozen raspberry canes and transplanted some beautiful yellow flowers from our neighbour’s garden that hopefully the bees will love – either this year or next.

We’ll never win the war, but I think the week’s battles went well.

 

Nosey Aubergine

Taking a stroll after yet another excessive seaside lunch yesterday, we passed some people working at the next restaurant processing piles of aubergines.  Six years ago when we first arrived in Puglia, like most English and many other nationalities, we would have walked past, determined not to be seen looking, but dying of curiosity to know what they were doing.  Inhibited by language barriers, shyness and a cultural inhibition to make contact with strangers we would march on by.  And if our eyes did meet we would be shocked and disturbed at how casually they stared at us.

Now, thankfully, we march up to them and poke our noses.  And our curiosity is duly rewarded with warm greetings, patient explanations and recipes.

Preserved Aubergines:

• First, peel the aubergines.  (In their case, 200kg.)
• Then slice all of the aubergines lengthways into 3mm slices – best to use a mandolin.  Especially if you’re working 200kg…
• Layer the aubergines in large jars with coarse salt, slices of garlic and fresh mint leaves.  When you get to the top of the jar squeeze as much of the aubergine liquid out as possible.
• Cover the aubergines with brine, weighing them down to keep them submerged.
• After 24 hours, drain the brine off and replace with vinegar.  Weigh down again.
• After another 12 hours, drain and squeeze off the vinegar and cover with olive oil.
• Store for at least a month before eating.  They should be good for up to a year.  They assured me that there was no cooking involved, but I would be tempted to pasteurise / can them at this stage.
• 200kg will keep your restaurant in aubergine antipasta for 12 months.

As much as I was grateful for the recipe (after sampling many melanzane sott’olio, I recognise this version as my favourite) the interaction with these cooks was delightful and we’re reminded yet again how lucky we are to live amongst these warm open people.  And how lucky we are to have had our attitudes changed, so that we can now poke our noses and stop missing out on such joys.

On the way home we stopped by the roadside to buy some potatoes from a tiny “stall” at the edge of the field where they were being harvested.  The tanned, smiling old man also had jars of preserved aubergines which of course I had to buy too.  There followed a conversation about how we had all found our paradiso. Couldn’t be more true.

 

Ostuni Seafood

Having just launched our new gourmet tour  website, we felt we should up our research and go out for lunch. We’ve long known about the stretch of restaurants ‘huts’ between Torre Canne and Savelletri that were once shacks selling ricci (sea urchins) to visiting Barese during the summer months but are now more structurally sopisticated and offer comprehensive seafood menus. You can now get chips with your fish.
But this week I read a review of one particular restaurant in the area, serving lobster and linguine, which is always a winner with us. Finally we found it, off the main road and right on the beach.

Il Principe del Mare, The Prince of the Sea, remains true to its roots with disposable cutlery and plates, and cheap cheap prices.  The service was perfect, and the fish generous and delicious. We started with carpaccio of tuna, octopus salad and preserved aubergines, and we both followed with lobster on linguine.  And somehow managed to share a tiramisu afterwards.  The bread served in a brown paper bag, the breeze coming off the sea and the sun beating on the water outside made the experience authentic and unforgettable.  The food was Puglia at its best, simple, fresh and delicious.
A genial Italian gentleman on the next table told us (repeatedly) that he first frequented the restaurant 35 years ago, when it was the only eatery in the area, and they only served ricci. When he had asked for salad, the proprieter went across the road and purchased some tomatoes from the farm, then washed them in seawater. The most delicious thing he had ever eaten…
Including a litre of local, slightly sparkling, white wine the bill was under 60 euros. I don’t think its going to hit the Gourmet Puglia itinerary, but we’ll definitely be going back.

 

Gallipoli – the beautiful city

our favourite and most recommended restaurant overlooking the clear Ionian

When we talk about visiting Gallipoli (from the Greek for beautiful city), most people initially think about the Dardanelles campaign of World War I.  But those heroic and tragic incidents were in Turkey: Gallipoli in Salento, Puglia, has happier stories to tell.  On the Ionian coast of the Salento region of Puglia, the old town of Gallipoli is in fact an island, linked to the mainland by a 16th century bridge.  For the wandering tourist it is a tiny land of fishermen and boats, seafood restaurants, picturesque alleyways and buildings, and a crazy number of churches.  Various dukes and counts over the past six centuries set out to prove their power, wealth and faith by building a bigger, better church right next door to that of their predecessor.  The island is surrounded by clear turquoise waters and there is even a sandy beach with calm waters to enjoy while you devour your post-lunch gelato.  There is something for everyone to worship.

If you can tear yourself away from the sea views, in the centre of the old town there is a museum in a well restored ancient olive mill, dug into the rock below street level.  A multi-lingual audio tape shares the history of Gallipoli’s wealth, based on a massive trade in olive oil, in the days when its primary use was as lamp oil, as well as for soap  making and for food.  The Salento oil was recognised as a superior product.  For example Russians insisted on the pale oil produced, refusing to insult the Madonna by burning inferior votives in their shrines.  The value of oil was such that by 1914, the price for a litre of oil was £1.50 (€1.80), the same as the average days labour.  In the peak of production workers would live in the mill for months on end, with the working donkeys for company.

See more photos and comments on our Facebook page.

 

Zero Food Miles

Inspired by Hugh FW’s Fish Fight, I just spent 5 euro on a jar of locally caught, artisan-preserved tuna in olive oil.  Tuna will no longer be a standby, but a luxury item.  But it got me reflecting, once again, how great it is hear to have access to this kind of food in Puglia, to be able to make those choices.

Local fruit and veg are abundant at Trullo Solari

We try to grow our own fruit and veg, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.  (We’re still learning!)  But when it doesn’t, or when we fancy something different, the Saturday market in Ostuni is full of fresh, beautiful, seasonal produce.  There is a 400 metre stretch of stalls, from the “muddy” end, which are little guys selling what they’ve grown, to the more “shiny” end which sell imported bananas and have carrots wrapped in plastic.  Sure, there are supermarkets, but we also have the choice to go and buy raw milk from the farm, or today’s ricotta, or the mozzerella that you can watch them making.  We go to the coast to buy fish from the little port market.  We go to the mill in Ceglie to buy flour.  One day we’ll grow our own wheat and take it for them to mill, but that day hasn’t yet come!  And of course we have the gift of our own olive harvest and traditionally pressed olive oil.  Those concerned with how the demise of fossil fuels will impact the food supply predict everyone will have to move back to this way of life.  But for now we are loving and appreciating what we have.

Guests at Trullo Solari can obviously join our appreciation for this quality of food while you’re here.  Our sat-nav is loaded with all of our favourite delis and food producers, and is yours for your stay.  And if the short drive to get there spoils your envionmental conscience, you can of course be content picking the fruit from the garden!

 

Puglia’s Clean Beaches

The Blue Flag Guide for 2010 has just been published, listing the Fountation for Environmental Education’s approved beaches.  Their criteria are based around Environmental Education and Information; Water Quality; Environmental Management and Safety and Services.

We’re delighted to see that Puglia has ten beaches that have won a Blue Flag, two of them within 20 minutes of Trullo Solari.  Camerini Creta Rossa, Costa Merlata Torre Pozzelle and Lido Morelli Rosa Marina.

The water along the coast here is indeed beautiful.  The extreme turquoise and sparkle at the beach can take your breath away.  It can be frustrating out of season when the beaches themselves aren’t cleaned, and can be littered within debris from the seas.  But now things are warming up, the sand cleaners are out, preparing the shores for the beautiful Italian bodies to be stretched out in the coming months.