The Cuisine of Basilicata

With little coastline and a mountainous interior, Basilicata is a rural farming region, so pork, pasta (made from durum wheat and water), bread and vegetables are the stars of the table. The flavours of the local food are always robust, sharp and intense. Desserts are also good, especially those sweetened with the flavoursome local honey.

A peasant cuisine Pork is the fundamental staple food. A pig can be reared in any kind of terrain and every bit can be used, even its blood, which is used for making a well-known local dessert called sanguinaccio. These pigs are generally muscular, and yield a ham that is dry, sinewy and full of flavour, especially when cured with wonderful spices.