Your essential food guide to Basilicata

• The must-make recipe from Basilicata
• What are the traditional ingredients in Basilicata?
• What are the famous dishes from Basilicata?
• The best cheeses to try from Basilicata
• The best wines to try from Basilicata
• The delicious. team’s top food experiences in Basilicata

Get to know the food of Basilicata

Basilicata is the home of Matera, one of the world’s oldest cities, dating back to Paleolithic times, and it’s home to the earliest evidence of both bread and pasta being cooked and eaten in the country. Cucina povera – much like the majority of southern regions – is all-encompassing here, with carbs and vegetables taking precedence over meat and fresh dairy. Bread and pasta remain hugely important to this day, with pulses and grains adding ballast to greens like artichokes and tomatoes. That said, lamb, pork (often cured into salumi) and horse meat are integral to the many religious festivals.

The region has two coastlines, but their small size means fish isn’t as common as you might think – although preserved anchovies are prevalent. There’s a local penchant for fiery flavours too – Basilicata is home to the famous peperone di senise, a mild chilli, and punchy horseradish is used with abandon in some more traditional dishes.

Our hero recipe from Basilicata

Ciaudedda (artichoke and pancetta stew) by Pollyanna Coupland

Ciaudedda is an artichoke, broad bean and potato stew with plenty of pancetta strewn throughout. It’s often served as a side dish in the region’s restaurants, but we think it’s good enough on its own with a glass of white wine and some crusty bread.

As with all stews, ciaudedda tastes even better the next day, so we recommend making it ahead and reheating on the day.

Cook Pollyanna’s Basilicatan ciaudedda (artichoke and broad bean stew)

 

 

What are the traditional ingredients in Basilicata?

• Durum wheat the local wheat is milled into semolina to make some spectacular breads, the most famous of which is pane di Matera. A huge (often 2.5kg!) sourdough-style loaf, its golden crumb and thick crust are flavoured with natural yeasts collected from soaking figs and grapes in water.
• Pasta That same wheat is used to make all sorts of pasta shapes, including cavatelli, lagane (like a wider, thicker tagliatelle) and orecchiette. You won’t find eggs in the pasta dough here – it’s all about the semolina.
• Peppers Peperone di senise is usually strung up and dried in the sun to preserve it and the wrinkly result – peperone crusco – is one of the most iconic flavours of the region. They’re often quickly fried in olive oil and used as a seasoning for other dishes (or even just eaten as a snack). They’re known as the ‘red gold’ of Basilicata.
• Pulses Broad beans, chickpeas and other local bean varieties are an important crop, finding their way into all sorts of dishes.
• Horseradish Traditionally known as ‘poor man’s truffle’, horseradish is one of the more unusual flavours found in Basilicata. It was traditionally used with abandon as it was easy to grow and full of much-needed vitamins among the peasants. The most famous dish made using it is rafanata – a potato, pecorino and horseradish frittata.
• Meat Lamb (or mutton) is the most common meat, but pork plays an important part in the local cuisine too – especially during festivals and special occasions. It’s also made into a wide range of salumi, most notably lucanica sausages, which are U-shaped (like chorizo), spiced with fennel and pepper and date back to Roman times.

What are the famous dishes from Basilicata?

• Pasta mollicata Arguably the region’s most famous dish, this is peasant cooking at its very finest. Anchovies, garlic and fried breadcrumbs are tossed through pasta (usually spaghetti), with a splash of red wine, onion and tomato often added too.
• Ciaudedda A side dish that often steals the show, the region’s beloved broad beans are stewed with artichokes, potatoes and other greens, flavoured with little cubes of pancetta.
• Cialledda fredda Stale bread and tomato salads can be found throughout central and southern Italy, but the Basilicatan version omits the vinegar of the more well-known Tuscan panzanella and is heavier on the bread, which locally will always be from Matera. It’s also popular in neighbouring Puglia (where it’s usually called acquasale).
• Pizza rustica ‘Pizza’ in Basilicata is very different from the Neapolitan version we all know. It’s actually an egg, cheese and salumi pie, often cooked for Easter.
• Crapiata An ancient soup dating back to Roman times made using various pulses, grains and legumes, it’s a simple dish that’s an important part of the local culture (particularly in Matera).

 

The best cheeses to try from Basilicata

Caciocavallo podolico – which is also made in Puglia and Campania – is made from a local breed of cattle called Podolica, famed for the flavour of its milk (which it doesn’t produce much of, hence the cheese’s reverence). It’s teardrop shaped and made in a similar way to mozzarella, but aged so it firms up and develops a spicier flavour. Pecorino di filiano is a firm sheep’s cheese worth seeking out too, with an intensely nutty sweetness.

The best wines to try from Basilicata

The rugged, hot, mountainous geography makes growing vines a challenge – as such, Basilicata isn’t one of Italy’s most well-known wine regions. Most of the wine here becomes generic table wine, although there is a small collection of producers focusing on quality. Aglianico del vulture DOC (and the superiore DOCG version) is the most highly regarded Basilicatan wine: a full-bodied red with deep, smoky notes.

Browse wine editor Susy Atkins’ pick of the nine best Italian wines to buy right now.

 

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