Basilicata is a small, sparsely populated region tucked between Campania, Puglia, and Calabria at the instep of the Italian boot. It claims a tiny bit of the Tyrrhenian coastland on the west and the Gulf of Taranto at its bottom edge. Much of the region's land is parched and sunbaked, making Basilicata one of Italy's least harvestable regions.

Basilicata's standard diet is pasta and vegetables, with meat reserved for special occasions. Nearly every vegetable consumed in Italy is eaten in Basilicata, including local bitter onions, mushrooms, fava beans, artichokes, potatoes, and peppers. Peperonata is a local favorite consisting of sweet peppers, tomatoes and chili pepper, often mixed with chunks of pork. A trademark in southern cooking is the liberal use of chili pepper. Basilicata is no exception; there are no less than five names for chili in the local dialect, including il forte, "the strong one."

Pork is this region's choice of meat, vividly reflected in the region's specialties: lucanica, a spiced sausage renowned throughout Italy, and pezzente ( "beggers") , a chili-spiked salami unique to Basilicata that contains the cheapest parts of the pig.

With the exception of the region's flavorful lemons and oranges, there are not many sweets eaten here. Those that are often consist of almonds. No grapes are native to Basilicata, but the region does produce a small quantity of red wine and white wine from vines brought by the Greeks many centuries ago.

Click here to see