Moody March and a Trip Down South
Matera
I had to check and search through my old phone images, in the hope that they hadn’t disappeared in some mysterious way, which tends to happen to me when replacing my current -soon to be called: old phone, with a new one.
Since I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I brought back to life my iPad – not used for as long as I can remember (I’m not a gadget person, call me old fashioned if you wish). Here they were!!
My first images taken in the Sassi of Matera, dated end of January 2016. The date the Dégustatuer and I mention every time we go back to Matera – almost every winter, staying in the very same hotel -Albergo Diffuso, where we have our favourite grotta (cave) to immerse ourselves in.
The year 2016 still belonged to those days where you were able to bring your car to the hotel in the Sassi di Matera, a UNESCO site. You would unload your luggage and have your car taken to an off site car park, and brought back upon departure. The hotel would solve everything that had to be done regarding registering the car’s entry to the historic part of town.
I can still visualise our first ever drive entering the Sassi, going down along a one way narrow system with the gorge to our left. We were questioning ourselves if we actually were in the right place as what appeared in front of us once we turned right and then immediately left behind a modest modern building felt like sliding into a fairytale world.
There were no cars moving in front of us nor behind us, we passed one gentleman only. He was walking up to a bar at the very top, just across from the panoramic view point overlooking the entire complex of houses, churches, monasteries and hermitages built into the natural caves.
The Matera’s history has nothing do with a fairytale, quite the opposite. Its past includes a terrible period that led it to be called Italy’s shame and a national disgrace. The period of isolation, decay, lack of development and poverty, where families lived in the humid caves with their animals.
I’ll stop myself just here refraining from a more detailed description of the living circumstances and standards. That part of the history can be easily researched online and now, after the inhabitants had been forced to relocate in the 1950s leaving their homes behind, there are a few caves turned into a museum like grotta, filled with objects from the past aiming to help to imagine how the people of the Sassi had lived.
But going back to January 2016; upon our arrival a late lunch was impossible to find. The hotel Sextantio – Albergo Diffuso, where we’ve always sojourned, doesn’t have a restaurant. The breakfast is divine but a few taralli with a glass of wine is all what we could have before heading to dinner. Currently a part of the hotel is undergoing a process of renovation, and a few caves (including our favourite cave) will be merged and turned into a restaurant, it’s what I was told a few weeks ago. We’ve always enjoyed the peacefulness of this particular hotel but I guess changes are inevitable. When years ago we could barely find a late snack to imitate lunch (not only in the Sassi but in the approximate vicinity), now it’s almost hard to make a choice. I may have allowed myself here for a mild exaggeration, but it’s exactly what it feels like to us. It’s not a complaint, in fact, it makes our every single visit more interesting and believe me, there are so many really good restaurants right now, especially where tradition meets a fresh interpretation, creativity and humble ingredients are turned into something utterly unforgettable.
The Dégustatur and I have promised ourselves that we would go back to Sassi di Matera this year -2026, after a small absence when we lived in London, we both felt that we really ’needed’ it.
And just like that, a few days into March we rented a car in Venice and set off on a little excursion, driving through Emilia Romagna and Le Marche, discovering and stopping overnight in towns where we hadn’t been before. Everything about this trip felt like an adventure. New destinations, new local food and wine to try, a new route to follow which took us home, because Matera feels like home to us. The weather all the while was slightly subdued, peaceful and melancholic. Someone would simply describe it as overcast, but I prefer to attach a more romantic connotation to it.
Petto di Pollo al Parmigiano
Polpettine alle Olive
Our first stop was Ferrara where I had to try cappellacci di zucca -recommended to have it with ragù, cipolline in agrodolce all’aceto balsamico (little onions agrodolce with balsamic vinegar) – we were in Emilia Romagna after all, and zuppa inglese for pudding- absolutely delicious creamy pudding with the sponge generously drizzled with vibrant red Alchermes.
For a post-lunch walk and an afternoon espresso we chose sleepy Comacchio, with its fascinating historic centre made up of a maze of canals. It’s a lagoon little town with strong ties to its fishing culture and eating eel – present on almost every menu.
After about one hour’s drive we arrived in Ravenna, where we stayed for the night. Just one night and I wish we had dedicated more spare time to this part of our journey as I didn’t know Romagna all. Perhaps next year? Fingers crossed.
And finally, after so many years of awaiting for the right moment, we made it to Ascoli Piceno. I had been dying to try its famous olives, first stuffed with a meat filling, then rolled in breadcrumbs and fried. The olives here are spectacular and I allowed myself a little souvenir from a local farmer’s market just after we had breakfast: a bottle of cold pressed olive oil. The olive oil is like no other I’ve ever had before, its taste is in a way so familiar but not in the liquid form. A real treat that we have at home is to drizzle it generously over toasted bread and literally nothing else. We live in Venice now and, as you can imagine, it’s not that practical to move around with many travel bags. The days of pulling up outside our front door to unpack with ease (all the local produce I used to bring with us) are temporarily over. A small price to pay – granted.
Matera, as ever, brought us peace of mind and a moment of slow down, a balm to my soul.
We filled the days with the same activities as before, and the time before that, but honestly, we are never bored of this routine. After breakfast we tend to search first for a good coffee bar – I need a decent dose of caffeine to start my day properly. Next, we walk into the rupestrian churches of the Sassi, where most often than not there is just the two of us and they somehow feel disconcertingly small to bear the weight of their history. Whilst strolling from one cave-church to another we comment on the recent changes in activities, crowds, restaurants, new hotels. It’s an ever evolving part of Matera, especially after the 2019 (Matera – the European Capital of Culture) and after having served as a film set on a few occasions.
Our aim is to keep the lunches as simple as possible in order to build up an appetite for a three course dinner – being greedy is also a part of our routine here. I always manage however, to find a great bakery just around the corner with the most delicious focaccia, topped with a local sausage, cime di rapa and peperoni cruschi, that we simply don’t know how to say no to. It’s all about the flour and olive oil, which during the baking process turns the edges of the bread almost sweet and crunchy.
Peperoni Cruschi
Peperoni cruschi, a culinary speciality, sweet thin-skinned red peppers, are first dried and then briefly fried in extra virgin olive oil until they become crunchy and light. This is something I highly recommend to try and take home with you.
I also brought us a pack of peperoni cruschi to Venice, along with a few bottles of aglianico del Vulture wine, a couple of locally made sausages, some cavatelli pasta and a bag of la crapiata mix for a soup (find the recipe here). We usually savour the crunchy cruschi peppers as a part of an aperitivo along with a few taralli, but since we came back from Matera I’ve cooked us on a couple of occasions a really tasty cavatelli pasta dish with the sausage, cime di rapa, aged goat’s cheese or pecorino – which brings the whole dish together giving it some character, all finished with a few – crushed in hand – peperoni cruschi (find the recipe here).
When I cook, even when following a recipe, I’m guided by intuition. Inevitably even more so when I have to find a replacement for an ingredient, not to mention about a few ingredients, which in the Italian way of simple cooking may change the character of a dish. I work with what I have and what I’m able to buy, trying my best to conjure up a very enjoyable and a happy meal. Which is the most important for me, on a par with whom I’m sharing the meal.
I’d suggest not to worry too much if you are unable to find the peperoni cruschi, but do try them when visiting Matera or the region of Basilicata!! It will not be the same, of course, but a sweet or lightly smoked paprika could be a good idea. Currently cime di rapa (turnip tops) in the markets in Venice can be found slightly overgrown and discoloured (the flower buds turn yellow) marking the end of their season, the good vendors are not happy to sell them like this. So instead I’d buy a head of romanesco cauliflower or broccoli. Once I’ve used up all the sausage I purchased in Matera, I’ve asked to put aside as soon as it arrived in the shop „Aliani Casa del Parmigiano” a whole pack of fresh Luganega (also called Luganica) sausage. The delivery is twice a month roughly, and it disappears in the blink of an eye. It doesn’t even make it onto the display shelves. As you can see, you can be quite creative with this pasta dish inspired by certain ingredients and their concoction that I had came across a few weeks ago in Matera.
After having finally tried the olive alla ascolana, upon our return I made us very simple and very tasty little pan fried meatballs with green olives. Not exactly the same thing and I wasn’t even intending to come close as it might have taken me almost forever – it requires a certain skill and experience. At home we cook as we wish, and I feel that I’ve managed to make the visit to Ascoli Piceno a bit more memorable for us.
We didn’t make a stop in Bologna on either of the legs of our journey but we drove past it – well, with some distance from it to be fair. However, I recalled a recipe I had shared on the blog when still living in Florence. A baked chicken breast in a small amount of chicken stock, spiced with a few gratings of nutmeg and melted golden parmesan cheese on top. I’ve almost forgotten how good it was. Thanks to our new route from Venice to Matera, I discovered, rediscovered and made at home so many lovely delectable dishes which bring so many fond memories.
Quite unusual for me to share three meat based dishes in one post, so here it is to changes and spontaneity, I hope you enjoy them, preferably with a glass of wine – from Basilicata!
Buon appetito xx