Materait's not just made of colors. Emotions also come from its typical flavours, linked to the land that surrounds it and which over time has contributed to its growth.
The typical dishes of Matera cuisine, in fact, draw inspiration from products such asvegetables, the vegetables, The legumes. It was the farmers who, thanks to the harvest obtained, created dishes capable of feeding the large families who lived in the areaSassi.
The typical cuisine of Materadraws on the agri-food characteristics ofMurgia, an immense territory that unites its neighbourPuglia to Materaand its province.
The basic ingredients are vegetables and turnips in particular, together with cardoncelli mushrooms and other products that grow spontaneously in this area.
Typical Matera dishes
Cialledda
Cialledda is a typical dish from Matera. Stale and even weeks-old bread left to soften in water, onion, tomatoes and turnips were served in a single dish which, in the winter version, were left to warm up with the broth. Tradition dictates that typical Murgia herbs are added together with asphodel flowers. Today, however, the latter are often replaced by eggs.
Crapiata
Among the typical dishes of Materathere is itCrapiata. Born as a specialty that Matera farmers prepared in August, at the end of the harvest as a sign of thanks for the good year. Women were entrusted with the task of bringing grain and legumes which were cooked in a single pot and offered to the whole neighborhood. Even today, every year, at the end of AugustMaterahosts in its most representative neighborhood,The Martella, theCrapiata festivalwhich engages the association of this district and is offered to the entire citizenry in an evening of celebration and popular traditions.
