Cuisine of Basilicata facts for kids
The cuisine of Basilicata, also called Lucanian cuisine, is the traditional food from the Basilicata region in Italy. This cooking style mostly uses pork and sheep meat, along with legumes, cereals, and vegetables. It often includes strong flavors like hot peppers, dried peppers (called peperoni cruschi), and horseradish.
Historically, this food was made by farmers. It used simple recipes and focused on not wasting anything, especially meat and bread. Over time, some dishes have become more fancy, but they still have their simple roots. The oldest cookbook from Basilicata is from 1524!
Contents
- What Makes Basilicata Food Special?
- Delicious Pasta Dishes
- Main Courses
- Other Dishes to Try
- Tasty Side Dishes
- Bread and Bakery Treats
- Oils from the Region
- Meats and Cold Cuts
- Cheeses of Basilicata
- Fruits, Vegetables, and Beans
- Sweet Desserts
- Wines, Liquors, and Drinks
- Related pages
- Other projects
- See also
What Makes Basilicata Food Special?
Basilicata has many small towns and villages. They are often separated by mountains and other natural barriers. This meant people had to cook and eat what they grew or raised nearby. Recipes often changed a little from one village to another, depending on what was available.
Pork has been a key food in Lucanian cooking since ancient Roman times. People believe that the first sausage, called lucanica, came from this area. This sausage then spread across Italy.
People in the inland areas didn't eat much fish. Fish was mostly eaten along the small Tyrrhenian and Ionian coasts. In the past, salt cod was popular inland because it could be stored for a long time.
Many dishes use beans, chickpeas, and broad beans. Barley and spelt are also common. These are used in dishes like crapiata and ciaudedda. They also make mischiglio, a mix of flours from the 1500s. This flour was used for special dishes for rich families.
Fruit has always been important. Figs were a very useful food. People ate them during holidays and busy work times. Grapes are used for wine and in dishes like lagana chiapputa and desserts like pan minisc'. Dried fruits like chestnuts are used in many ways, from main dishes to sweets like calzoncelli.
Peperone crusco, a type of dried bell pepper, is super important. It's even called "the red gold of Basilicata." People eat it as a snack or in many dishes. These include Pasta con i peperoni cruschi, baccalà alla Lucana (salt cod), and acquasale. Another popular flavor is horseradish. People call it "poor man's truffle." It was common for workers because it was cheap and easy to find. Horseradish is used in sauces like ndruppeche and dishes like rafanata. It can also be mixed with bread and potatoes for meatballs or to flavor meat.
Bread crumbs are often used in Lucanian food. In the past, they were called "poor man's cheese." They were a cheaper choice than real cheese.
The art of making calzone is very old in Basilicata. It's known by names like pastizz or falagone. These date back to the 1700s or 1800s.
Delicious Pasta Dishes
Basilicata is known for eating a lot of pasta. People here eat about 42 kg (92 lbs) of pasta per person each year. This is much more than the national average of 24 kg (53 lbs)!
Common pasta shapes in the region are strascinati, cavatelli, ferretti (also called fusilli), orecchiette, and maccaronara. There's also lagane, an ancient pasta from Roman times. It's like tagliatelle but a bit shorter and thicker.
Here are some famous pasta dishes:
- Calzoni di Pezzente e fagioli: Pasta filled with special salami and ham. It's served with beans, pecorino cheese, and parsley.
- Cauzunciedd: These are ravioli filled with ricotta cheese, eggs, and mint. They are served with tomato sauce.
- Lagane e ceci: Pasta with chickpeas, garlic, or leek and laurel leaves.
- Lagana chiapputa: Pasta with cooked wine, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, and raisins.
- Orecchiette alla materana: Baked pasta with tomato, minced lamb, mozzarella, and pecorino cheese.
- Pasta con peperoni cruschi: A main dish with cruschi peppers, bread crumbs, and cacioricotta cheese.
- Pasta con ragù alla potentina: Pasta (often strozzapreti) served with l'ndruppeche. This is a meat sauce made with pork and beef, and grated horseradish.
- Pasta mollicata: Pasta with breadcrumbs. It can also have chopped tomatoes, meat sauce, or powdered crusco pepper.
- Tumact me tulez: A dish from the Arbëreshë people in Basilicata. It's tagliatelle with tomatoes and anchovies, topped with breadcrumbs and nuts.
Main Courses
The main courses in Basilicata often feature pork and sheep meat. Sometimes chicken and fish are used too.
Here are some examples:
- Agnello alla contadina: Lamb pieces cooked in the oven with potatoes.
- Baccalà alla lucana: Salt cod seasoned with cruschi peppers.
- Cutturidd': A stew made with sheep meat. It can include tomatoes, potatoes, and mushrooms.
- Gnummeriedde: These are small rolls made from lamb or kid entrails. They are twisted and flavored with different herbs.
- Pollo alla potentina: Chicken cooked with tomato, onion, potatoes, and fresh chili pepper.
- Rafanata: A thick baked omelette flavored with horseradish and pecorino cheese. Boiled potatoes or sausages can be added.
- Spigola alla malvasia lucana: A fish dish with malvasia wine. It's flavored with grapes, orange and lemon peel, thyme, rosemary, and garlic.
Other Dishes to Try
- Acquasale: A simple dish that uses stale bread as its main ingredient. It can be made richer with egg, tomato, onion, or raw peppers.
- Crapiata: A traditional soup from Matera. It has many ingredients like peas, broad beans, chickpeas, wheat, spelt, lentils, beans, and fresh vegetables.
- Falagone: A type of calzone made with a special dough. It can have a savory or sweet filling.
- Pizza rustica lucana: This is a savory pie often eaten around Easter. It's filled with eggs, ricotta cheese, pecorino cheese, and soppressata (or sausage).
- U' pastizz rtunnar: A special calzone from Rotondella. It's filled with pork, egg, and grated cheese.
Tasty Side Dishes
- Ciambotta lucana: A vegetable side dish with eggplants, peppers, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes.
- Ciaudedda: A side dish made of potatoes, artichokes, onions, and bacon.
- Lampascioni salad: A salad made with a type of wild onion called lampascioni. It can also include scrambled eggs, crusco peppers, or sausage.
- Patate raganate: Baked potatoes with tomatoes, onions, and bread crumbs.
- Full potatoes: Baked potatoes cut into slices and filled with seasoned sausage, cheese, and eggs. You can also add breadcrumbs and horseradish.
Bread and Bakery Treats
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One of the most famous breads from Basilicata is Matera bread. It has a special certification called I.G.P.. Other important breads include Trecchina bread and San Severino Lucano potato bread.
There are also different types of focaccia. The strazzata is a focaccia with pepper. The carchiola is a corn focaccia cooked in a fireplace. Both are from Avigliano. Other bakery items include friselle and taralli.
For Easter, Basilicata has its own versions of Easter bread. These have many names like picciddat.
Oils from the Region
Olive oil is a very important part of Basilicata's cooking. It's used in almost all dishes. Over 85% of the farmed land in Basilicata grows olive trees. The best areas for olive oil production are Vulture-Melfese and Val d'Agri.
The most common olive types are Ogliarola del Vulture and Majatica di Ferrandina. Most of the oil made is extra-virgin olive oil. This oil is usually golden yellow with green hints.
Meats and Cold Cuts
Basilicata is known for its delicious pork cold cuts. Some common ones are:
- salsiccia (sausage)
- salame pezzente
- soppressata
- capocollo
- pancetta (bacon)
Picerno is a very important town for making cold cuts. It produces about half of all the cold cuts in Basilicata. Famous regional cold cuts include the lucanica di Picerno and the chain sausage of Cancellara.
Cheeses of Basilicata
Traditional cheeses from Basilicata include:
- ricotta
- cacioricotta
- caprino (goat cheese)
- manteca
- pecorino (sheep's milk cheese)
- caciocavallo
- scamorza
Some of the most famous cheeses are pecorino di Filiano and canestrato di Moliterno.
Fruits, Vegetables, and Beans
Typical fruits grown here include the Pear Lady of Sinni Valley and the Pink Fig of Pisticci. Strawberries like "Sabrosa" and "Candonga" are also popular. Common dried fruits are almonds, pistachios (especially from Stigliano), and chestnuts. Chestnuts from Vulture are used in many dishes, desserts, and even liqueurs.
Important vegetables include the Peperone di Senise (a special pepper), the Melanzana Rossa di Rotonda (red eggplant), and the Pomodoro Ciettaicale di Tolve (a type of tomato).
Legumes are widely used. These include beans (especially the Sarconi bean), chickpeas from Latronico, and lentils from Potenza.
Sweet Desserts
The desserts in Basilicata are usually simple and not too fancy. They use ingredients that are easy to find locally. Most sweets are dry and small. This made them easy for workers to carry and eat during their day.
Here are some typical sweets:
- Anginetti: Glazed cookies shaped like a doughnut. They are flavored with aniseed or fennel seeds.
- Bocconotti: Small pastries filled with black cherry jam or custard.
- Calzoncelli: These are like sweet ravioli, either fried or baked. They often have fillings like chestnuts and cocoa.
- Cannaricoli: Sweets made with flour, oil, lemon juice, and white wine.
- Cicerata: A Christmas cake made of fried dough balls piled up and covered with honey.
- Nocetti: Sweets made with eggs, sugar, and nuts. They are decorated with a lemon glaze.
- Pan minisc': A sweet from the province of Potenza. It's made from cooked must (grape juice), flour, sugar, and spices.
- Rosacatarre: Fried sweets shaped like a rose, covered with honey.
- Scorzette: Sweets from Bernalda made with egg white, sugar, and hazelnuts. They are covered with dark chocolate.
- Sospiri: Oval-shaped sponge cakes filled with custard or cocoa, and covered with icing.
- Zeppole di San Giuseppe: Fried pastries made with eggs, flour, and sugar. They are topped with custard and black cherries.
Wines, Liquors, and Drinks
Basilicata has a very old history of making wine. Many different types of grapes are grown here. The most important red wines are Aglianico del Vulture, Grottino di Roccanova, and Matera wine. White wines are also made, but less often, from Greco and Malvasia grapes.
Popular spirits include Amaro Lucano from Pisticci and elderberry liqueur. There's also Sempre Freddo from Avigliano, made from Aglianico wine and black cherries. Other liqueurs include nocino (walnut liqueur) and limoncello cream.
For drinks, there's Birra Morena, a beer made in Balvano, and the soft drink Avena from Potenza.
Basilicata has a huge amount of mineral waters. It holds over 30% of Italy's total water resources! The water sources in the Vulture area are special because they come from volcanic ground. This gives the spring waters a natural fizz, which is quite rare. Famous mineral waters include those from Fonti del Vulture and Gaudianello.
Related pages
- Basilicata
- Wines of Basilicata
Other projects
Wikimedia Commons contiene immagini o altri file su Cucina lucana
See also
In Spanish: Gastronomía de Basilicata para niños
