Macelleria

It is pretty obvious that being kosher, or at least keeping the level of kashrut that I do, if I want to eat meat at a restaurant, it has to be a kosher restaurant.  Nonetheless, I took great delight in the macelleria that seemed to be on the corner of every street in every town we visited.  What made these more noteworthy than other Italian butchers was that every night, they built enormous barbecues on the street outside the shop, and sold grilled sausages, chicken wings, steaks etc.  Unless I haven't been looking I haven't noticed anything similar elsewhere in Italy, so I think it is a Pugliese speciality. 

The quality of the food is obvious, if for no other reason than when customers decide what they want, the meat is put in a soft white bun and served.  There's no thought of sauces to mask or improve the taste - just grilled meat and bread.  The smell is fantastic - burning wood and grilling meat.  I wouldn't say I was tempted to buy one of the filled buns but the smell did make me stomp around like a hunger-crazed carnivore.  Suffice to say when we returned home to the UK, meat was the first thing I ate.