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Italian · V The Canonical Dishes · Basilicata

Baccalà alla Lucana — Salt Cod with Peppers and Olive Oil

Basilicata

‹ Basilicata

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I

Origin

Basilicata — the baccalà tradition in the Lucano interior reflects the absence of fresh fish in a landlocked region. The Senise pepper cultivation (the famous peperone di Senise IGP) makes the Lucano preparation specifically identifiable. The preparation is most associated with the Potenza and Matera provinces.

II

Description

Baccalà alla lucana is the salt cod preparation of the Basilicata interior — a landlocked region where baccalà (salt-dried cod) was historically the only fish available. The Lucano preparation combines rehydrated baccalà with sweet and hot dried peppers (the Senise peperoni cruschi are ideal), preserved tomato (estratto di pomodoro, the concentrated Lucano sun-dried tomato paste), black olives, and capers in a single pan braise. The dried peppers reconstituted in warm water provide a sweet, slightly smoky note that is the Basilicata fingerprint in this preparation. It is a cucina povera masterpiece — the preserved ingredients of the Lucano pantry combined into a preparation of considerable complexity.

III

The Thread

—Desalted salt cod cooked with peppers, olives, and concentrated tomato — the Portuguese bacalhau preparations with peppers and olives and the Lucano baccalà alla lucana share the core ingredients of the Atlantic cod-salt trade that reached both the Iberian peninsula and southern Italy through medieval and Renaissance trade networks Portuguese
—Salt cod with sweet dried peppers and tomato — the Riojan bacalao with choricero peppers and the Lucano baccalà with Senise peperoni cruschi are parallel preparations using the same logic of sweet dried red peppers to soften and sweeten rehydrated salt cod Spanish
IV

Flavour Context

Baccalà alla lucana in the pan has a sauce of remarkable depth — the concentrated tomato, sweet dried peppers, black olives, and capers create a complex agro-salato-dolce balance. The baccalà, desalted and gently simmered, has a texture that is firm but yielding, with the skin gelatinising into the sauce. With dense Lucano bread to absorb the sauce, it is one of the most satisfying cucina povera fish preparations.

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