Matera: The Umbel Oyster Mushroom

The umbel oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii) is a very tasty mushroom, although it is not very big. It grows wild in some parts of Basilicata and other regions of southern Italy. It is a fungus which has been known and appreciated since the time of the ancient Romans thanks to its delicate and extraordinary taste, which makes every dish brilliant and manages to seduce every palate, even the most refined. It is largely used in cooking in Basilicata. A lot of recipes have this precious natural product as a basic ingredient. It is used to make appetizing starters and rich sauces, able to enrich in particular handmade pasta and second courses. These mushrooms can be cooked in a lot of ways: grilled, au gratin, fried with garlic and parsley, on their own or with meat (usually lamb), with vegetables (potatoes, peppers, beans, etc.). Anyway, a dish based on this product supplies the table and, consequently, the host with a lot of prestige since it is a sign of great refinement.

Sarconi: The Bean

The bean produced in Sarconi is cultivated using some local ecotypes of ‘cannellino’ and ‘borlotti’. This type of bean is particularly appreciated because it cooks very quickly (cooking ‘a prima acqua’) and so offering a cooked product with a fluid stiffness and a pleasant taste. The Sarconi Bean is cultivated in grounds located on more than 600 metres above the main sea level, which have alluvial origin and which are cool, deep and fertile, with a good water retention capacity, and limestone free. The sowing time starts from the end of May and continues until the middle of July. Usually the cultivation processes do not include chemical treatments for controlling physiopathologies and weeds. The available range of varieties mainly includes dwarf ‘borlotti’ and ‘cannellini’, almost exclusively cultivated for producing fresh pods to be shelled. It is because of its particular characteristics and because it is well known throughout Italy that the Sarconi Bean has achieved the Geographical Typical Indication.

Tito: Lucania Tastes

This event, held every year in October in the ‘Ente Fiera di Basilicata’, aims at putting the agricultural and food productions of Basilicata in the spotlight. During this event several typical and organic local products are shown by individual producers or by farmers’ cooperatives that bring to the Fair their best products. The enhance of the local typical products takes place through food tasting during the Fair, but also through technical meetings and debates about food and agricultural technologies in Basilicata.

Avigliano: The Stockfish

The recipe for cooking dried salt-cured cod (‘baccalà’) in Avigliano is mainly with ‘cruschi’ peppers. These are common red peppers (the best ones come from the area around Senise), that are cropped and dried in the sun. Their footstalks are stringed with a cotton thick rope, thus forming laces (called ‘nzerta’). The peppers thus processed are very good for frying in abundant oil; this makes this dish crunchy and very tasty. For the preparation of this recipe (4 persons): boil 500 gr of dried salt-cured cod, drain then and chop them in big pieces. In the meantime fry in a pan 300 gr of cruschi peppers in abundant oil, with a garlic and some parsley. Add the cruschi peppers and their oil to the dried salt-cured cod. At the end add some chilly oil to complete this very tasty recipe.