It’s interesting because the assassina sugo from the box is pretty much a passata pre-seasoned with chilli. And the spaghetti was fresh pasta tossed in olive oil. What was unusual is that authentic assassina involves frying dried spaghetti so it burns, crisps and blisters, then cook like risotto.

Do you mean the assassina from a box, or assassina generally? We always cook it according to the recipe, but on this occasion we were asked to review the ready made.

Otherwise you can ready all about one of our favourite regional dishes here:

www.pugliaguys.com/2023/03/04/a...

OK, here is the version where they finish them with honey (not ours, taken from a well known Italian cooking blog)

blog.giallozafferano.it/cucinafacile...

Chiacchiere (from the verb chiacchierare, to chatter, to gossip and so named because of the crunch they make). Thin fried, or baked, pastries we eat during Carnevale season before lent.

Ciao is it cartellate? Which we have at Christmas and are covered in vincotto around the north of Puglia, and honey around Salento? These are a Christmas tradition. If not, then it could be chiacchiere…

www.pugliaguys.com/2024/12/11/c...

Top! Next time with those cherry tomatoes try pomodori scattarisciati (popping tomatoes) as a sauce. It’s on our list of tomato sauces here! Buon appetito 😋

www.pugliaguys.com/2024/09/07/t...

The pandoro is a typical Christmas cake, but hadn’t realised there was a cat version!

Amazing. But without the yolk?

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! But in a reverse standard, this is the only pasta in our Puglia kitchen we use egg to make!

Will you eat it all before Christmas?

Is this the new RW&Blu?

Huge fans of Dame Diana. If you never heard the stories about her care, this is one of our favourite ever. By her actor daughter Rachel Stirling and Elbow singer son-in-law Guy Garvie. It’s all about the spring rolls (in the US, perhaps egg rolls). Maybe need VPN.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

We always have a glut of figs in our Puglia kitchen garden. Apart from the obvious, jam and chutney we also pickle (and sun dry sandwiching an almond inside) and serve with orecchiette - of course! We are in Puglia!

But we would love to know a few other ways to deal with them - we hate waste!

Top! Our British Christmas dinner Puglia cross-over menu from last year was closely aligned to regional recipes:

- Burrata with Christmas roast vegetables and red cabbage

- Orecchiette al forno with sprouts and stuffing (instead of cime di rapa and sausage)

- Christmas cake tiramiYu(le)

Our favourite is the Scottish variation we saw in your regional variations link, with haggis, black pudding, lorne sausage and a dollop of brown sauce!

With honey, with sugar and sprinkles and savoury. Yesterday some had anchovies or mussels inside, others baccalà. It could well be a catholic tradition.

Absolutely. If a restaurant plays a social role in its neighbourhood, offering affordable, everyday meals to people who live and work nearby, then perhaps the kindest thing we can do is not to write about it at all.
Not every great experience is meant to be shared widely.

A good point. Our first instinct was to do this. But even if they say yes, a business owner’s enthusiasm is not the same as a neighbourhood’s wellbeing.
We decided that ultimately, the responsibility rests with us, rather than with those we write about. We feel comfortable with that!