Blog – Spigadolce

14 February 2026

A Rain of Sweet Memories in Andria – La Petresciata and the Tender Magic of My Hometown

What better time than Carnival to bring a little joy and lightheartedness to these cold, gray winter days? In Andria, there's a deeply evocative local...

09 November 2025

Remembering November: Life along Cemetery Avenue.

“November smelled of olives, smoke, and chrysanthemums — a month that taught me what it means to remember.” I remember November vividly, perhaps more...

19 July 2025

The wool of our sleep: a tradition I will never abandon

In the large courtyard of our family home, we used to wash sheep's wool from mattresses and pillows. It was an ancient ritual that marked...

26 June 2025

Making Tomato Puree: A Summer Ritual Etched in My Memory

Today, I buy tomato puree at the supermarket like most people do. But until about twenty years ago, when I still lived in the countryside,...

20 May 2025

Harvesting and Cleaning Almonds

During the summer months, we harvested almonds. As a child, I remember seeing mountains of almonds piled up in my father’s warehouse, which was attached...

04 May 2025

Fava Beans: A Taste of Memory

My mother often prepared dried fava beans with wild chicory — a simple, rustic dish that was a staple in our home. I never once...

19 May 2024

The oil and its use in the past

Olive oil appears in all recipes of modern cuisine, but in the past, even in Puglia, despite being the region that produces the most oil...

19 May 2024

Stockfish and baccalà

The cod (baccalà) I buy at the supermarket, in the trays at the refrigerated counter, is absolutely not like the one my mother used to...

28 April 2024

The "Cocchia" (bunches of tomatoes hung up)

In this picture below I am in family's vegetable garden In Apulia, this is what they call the bunches of tomatoes hung up for winter...

28 April 2024

Almond Harvesting and Cleaning.

During the summer, almonds were harvested. I remember, as a child, mountains of almonds in my father's warehouse, which was adjacent to and communicated with...