Heavenly simplicity

Borgo Egnazia in Puglia opened last year and immediately gained a reputation as one of Europe’s most spectacular holiday resorts, not least thanks to its cookery school under the tutelage of the resort’s executive chef, Mario Musoni.

Until recently Musoni had his own Michelin-starred restaurant outside Milan. When I asked why he didn’t seem unhappy to be uprooted from his hometown relatively late in life, he grinned and replied: ‘This is where the best food is. Milan’s vegetables come from down here. Puglia is the garden of Italy.’

Indeed, Borgo Egnazia is surrounded by orchards, olive groves and vegetables thrusting up from rich soil. There is also a daily supply of fresh fish from the nearby village of Savalletri, and one warm, sparkling morning, Musoni took me to the fish market, right on the water where the boats chug in with their catch. Later that night, as I tasted octopus, tender and comforting in a robust inky broth, he reminded me that only hours earlier we had seen it writhing around alive.

Musoni enjoys sourcing his ingredients from such fertile ground. ‘If the produce is good enough, you hardly need to touch it. My philosophy is zero kilometres. Everything comes fresh from a mere walk away.’ Now is the season of the artichoke, and it lasts till June. One night, Chef Musoni served a spring artichoke feast, accompanied by an aromatic Jermann 2009 Sauvignon. It began with slivers of rare herb-marinated lamb topped with artichoke carpaccio and truffle oil and continued with artichoke croquettes on a velvety fondue of cacio cavallo (local cheese), followed by creamy carnaroli rice artichoke risotto with prawns.

‘The secret is not to fry the rice because that locks in the starch,’ said Musoni. ‘Just boil it for 17 minutes with beef stock and the artichokes.’