Alla Strozza

Alla Strozza agroturismo has the best kitchen I have ever been in in my entire life. The beautifully modern and shiny kitchen is tucked into a corner of the brick farmhouse, lit by a wide stained-glass window of roses and vines. The smell when I first walked in was the most wonderful aroma I have ever experienced- it made me instantaneously content. If I could only breathe this scent forever, I don’t think I’d ever be unhappy again. It was indescribable- there were notes of fresh popcorn, roasting meat, rosemary, peppercorns, wine, garlic, and something that reminded me of both Thanksgiving and Christmas... And so many other more subtle things I couldn’t place. Maybe it was a case of the whole being more than the sum, or maybe it was the magic of the ingredients (most were from the back yard of the agroturismo), but I never wanted to leave that kitchen.
Unfortunately, the time came to tour the rest of the farm, and to set the table for the magnificent lunch we were soon to have. The farm part of the agroturismo was much more real than the other agroturismo we visited in Otranto. This was food being raised, not a petting zoo for tourists. We saw the hogs, geese, ducks, and chickens; the slaughtering room; and the cool dark curing room, with racks of salame con aglio (with garlic), salame di sugo, and huge hams, hanging by their tendons to dry. They sit for months or years, molding slightly in the cold, until they are hard and salty and savoury and perfect. We got to try some salame with our Coppia Farrarese, as a first course to lunch- the bread was crusty and warm, and the salame was cold and soft. They complemented each other perfectly. The rest of lunch was as good as we expected from what we saw and smelled in the kitchen: fresh pasta with Bolognese sauce, stuffed rabbit loin with white wine, a tasting plate of their pickled and preserved vegetables, and a flat dry cake you ate dipped in wine or with cherry preserves (or both). Erin, who usually declares every day to be the best yet, leaned back in her chair and said “I think this might be the best day of my entire life.”