People tend to talk about Puglia as if it’s just one place—the heel of Italy’s boot, a place of ancient olive trees, whitewashed masserie, the domed little hobbit homes called trulli. It’s a place that celebrates family, slow living and long lunches under the Adriatic sun.  

That vision isn’t wrong, but it leaves a lot out. The region stretches out over more than 250 miles and is home to 4 million people. It’s an area that encompasses a great deal of diversity. People in Lecce will tell you that they’re from Salento, not Puglia, and say that their dialect is more like Sicilian.