A FARM BEFORE EVERYTHING ELSE

Masseria Le Cerase e Montefieno

Ada and Donato from Masseria Le Cerase and Montefieno were kind enough to gift us a couple of cans of their delicious olive oil when visiting them last summer. Here’s a Q&A with Ada Rota to get to know them better!

We are in Conversano in the province of Bari and we are a farm before everything else. Our family olive grove counts about 3800 plants of different cultivars, divided between our two farms Le Cerase and Montefieno, in an area historically suited to agriculture and the centenary cultivation of olive trees.

In 2016 we decided to give new life to the historic family farm to rediscover all its charm and to ensure our guests enjoy the feeling of history, without forgetting the elegance and simplicity and we realised our dream of becoming a destination wedding venue as more and more couples dream of getting married in Puglia, more especially in a farm. That said, with our traditions and all the beauty of Puglia that surrounds us, our property is always admired with great charm.

WHO’S BEHIND MASSERIA LE CERASE AND MONTEFIENO?

Behind the two Masserie, there is a family, lots of love, lots of ideas and above all, lots of sacrifices. Everyone has his own tasks and mine is to show the Masserie as seen with my own eyes. I study pharmacy but my relationship with Donato in recent years has also led me to spend my spare time in the Masseria because of his work. By spare time I mean every Saturday night, every weekend and every summer.
I always thought that all our sacrifices should be paid off one day, but above all, that together with all this beauty around us, they should be shared. So I created an Instagram and Facebook page from scratches and I took some marketing classes to look after public relations and communication.

Now there aren’t only science bits of my studies in me anymore; with this work, I have rediscovered a very empathic part of me when I welcome guests, when I prepare my traditional Apulian recipes to offer them, or when, after some time from their stay, we still chat and exchange messages.
We are always growing and always aiming to do better!

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LE CERASE AND MONTEFIENO OLIVE OIL?

Both our olive oils are obtained from the constant search for quality and unique flavour, expertly blending different Apulian olive varieties according to their characteristics in order to obtain the best possible oil.

FRUTTATO DELICATO MONTEFIENO

50% Leccino
50% Simone

FRUTTATO INTENSO LE CERASE

80% Coratina
20% Ogliarola Barese

A FAVOURITE RECIPE

I love cooking, both for ourselves and for our guests. I often welcome them with an all-Apulian aperitif or by preparing something typical from our region.
My strong ones are definitely the focaccia from Bari, of which I have published an IGTV video on our Instagram feed and seafood spaghetti.

Seafood spaghetti:

In a large pan, sauté olive oil, a clove of garlic, add unshelled prawns and sea cicadas for 3 min, then deglaze with white wine and once evaporated add a fresh tomato sauce or tomatoes, salt and chilli. Cover and cook over medium heat.

Meanwhile, start cooking the spaghetti. Halfway through the cooking time, drain it and add it to the fish sauce, adding splashes of the hot water used for the pasta as needed. Mix well and let the pasta continue to cook in the sauce to absorb the sauce. The pasta will be ready as the water evaporates, once it will all become very creamy.

A sprinkle of fresh parsley and it's ready! I swear, it always wins everyone over!

WHAT DOES MEDITERRANEAN MEAN TO YOU?

For us Mediterranean means expanses of centuries-old olive trees, spending entire days having meals of all kinds -we should also mention that the culinary tradition of this territory is unparalleled- music, entertainment, going out to discover the oldest villages of the cities and getting lost in the streets lined with dry stone walls from which every now and prickly pears spring up.

Everyone should come to Puglia at least once because as we always say to our guests:

"Puglia it's not a travel, it's a life experience"