The village of the 'fornelli pronti' and the meat rolls
On a hill overlooking the Itria Valley, Cisternino is one of the "Borghi più belli d'Italia", a white village of whitewashed houses, external staircases, arches and lanes, with flower pots on every step. Its old town is a delight to walk through, with small squares such as Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and its clock tower, and the "Belvedere" overlooking the valley dotted with trulli.
Cisternino is famous throughout Apulia for its "fornelli pronti", "ready ovens": butcher's shops with a wood-fired oven in the back, where you choose the raw meat at the counter, and the butcher cooks it on the spot and brings it to you at tables set up inside or in the street, with bread, wine and vegetables. The undisputed star is the bombetta, a small roll of pork capocollo filled with cheese, usually canestrato pugliese, salt, pepper and parsley, skewered and roasted on the grill, which melts in the mouth. Other specialities are the "zampina", a thin spicy sausage, lamb chops and "gnumareddi", rolls of lamb offal. In summer the village fills with people from all over the region who come here just to eat.
Tip: go in the evening, when the fornelli light their ovens and the streets fill with the smell of grilled meat; on weekends in summer it is better to book.
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