Culinary Traditions & Specialities

And while filming for my TV series further east in Basilicata, we came across Accettura, a small village in the centre of a sea of green hills and valleys, part of the Pollino Mountains. By chance, the annual celebration of the matrimonio degli alberi (the marriage of trees) was taking place. From two opposite sides of the village, two teams of young and very strong men, with the aid of bulls, each hauled in a huge full-grown tree, one an oak deprived of all its branches, the other, a holly tree in full leaf. They bound them upright in the piazza, one above the other, almost grafting them together, then tied notes of paper to the branches. Quite what this symbolised, I didn’t know, but then some 12 marksmen fired at the trees to detach the paper. Thereafter everyone celebrated, and I can still remember the festive meal I ate in the local trattoria. This included maccheroni al ferretto, a hand-rolled pasta with a rich, slow-cooked ragu of tomatoes, lamb, pork and pezzenta, a unique Basilicatan salami. The dish was sprinkled with salted ricotta, a hard cheese that is the local substitute for Parmesan. I can still taste it today.