Taranto: From Sea to Plate in the Heart of Magna Graecia
Taranto is one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean, as well as one of the oldest places in Magna Graecia.
This incredible history is fully reflected in the local cuisine, which spans from meat to fish to the ever-present pasta dishes. Just behind Piazza Castello, in the historic center of Taranto, you can find numerous small, lively restaurants nestled in the tiny streets of the old city.
The city of two seas favours fish dishes, with “cozze alla tarantina” (mussels Taranto style) being its signature dish. The locals also enjoy a fresh glass of local white wine with a barbecued octopus sandwich. For those who prefer meat, the “bombette”—meat rolls stuffed with ham and cheese—are a true explosion of flavour, with local butchers creating them in many varieties.
No meal is complete without dessert! Try the local sweet “carteddate,” sheets of fried dough with a curled shape rich in meaning, allegedly related to the sheets in which the Baby Jesus was wrapped. The name comes from the thinness of the pastry sheet, like “greaseproof paper,” which is rolled up on itself until it forms a sort of rose fried in plenty of oil and soaked in warm vincotto or honey, then sprinkled with cinnamon, powdered sugar, or coloured sprinkles.
Before leaving Taranto, you cannot fail to try Raffo beer, which is considered the “beer of the Tarantines” par excellence.
