Matera, Italy, a weekend among the stones

Matera in Southern Italy has been awarded the title of European City of Culture 2019, beating off stiff competition from fellow Italian rivals Cagliari, Lecce, Perugia, Ravenna and Siena. Known in Italy as "la città sotterranea" (subterranean/underground city), it is a unique and special place. Full of narrow streets, history, atmosphere, it is waiting; ready to be explored by you. 

The ancient city has been established for over 7000 years, the initial dwellings being caves carved into the soft sedimentary rock. So important is Matera historically, that in 1993 it was given protection as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The historic centre is known as “the Sassi” (the stones), with beautiful narrow streets climbing up the hill as the city spills down with its white stone houses. 

Matera is in the Basilicata region of Italy, neighbouring Puglia. Just in case you look at my pictures and feel a sense of déjà vu, don’t worry. You are right to think you’ve seen it before if you have seen the Mel Gibson directed film “The Passion Of The Christ” or the Richard Gere film “King David”. Both had scenes filmed in the ancient and evocative city. 

My base in Matera was in the heart of the “Sassi”, in Guiseppe’s gorgeous cave house “La Suite de Nei Sassi”. A historic ancient cave, carved by hand into the soft sedimentary rock, it has been a dwelling for centuries. 

Restored to clean away soot deposits from thousands of indoor fires and to put in plumbing and electricity, Guiseppe has turned a primitive and basic place to live into a romantic home away from home. Small niches for candles and poultry are cut into the stone, and in the ceiling are dotted the odd sea shell, giving away the way in which the stone of the caves was created, millions of years ago. The Suite can be booked online: https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/la-suite-nei-sassi.it.html
 

If you want to get a feel for the city, you can get a whistle stop tour in an “Ape” van. Not ape as in primate, but app-pay as in bumblebee. The Ape van, made by Piaggio is the big brother of the Vespa (wasp) scooter. There are several firms offering Ape van tours of Matera, but I recommend Ape Vito, run by Vito as his family have lived in Matera for generations, and his tour gives a real insight into the twists and turns of the city’s history, including his stories from the era of his grandparents. You can check out Vito’s website for more details: www.apevito.com.

Walking around the Sassi, exploring the churches and small museums will keep you busy during the day. But what about food? The very south of Italy boasts some wonderfully vibrant local produce, and the food of Puglia and Basilicata is earthy, rustic and utterly delicious.

La Abbondanza Lucana

After receiving a recommendation of this restaurant from a Materan foodie, we had to visit a couple of times in the hope of getting a cancellation table, so popular is this restaurant. It prides itself on serving traditional recipes made with the best local produce, garnering it an entry in the Michelin guide. 

The mixed starters are a must-have here, because not only does it give you a chance to sample the best of local, seasonal ingredients, but also the best of the traditional cooking techniques of the area. Take a look at the photos on the wall while being shown to your table. Anyone who is anyone who visits this town comes here to sample this superb foodie experience. I recommend the shared starter platter, which promises and delivers Puglia on a plate.  

Vico Bruno Buozzi, 11-11 Bis Sasso Caveoso, Matera

Telephone number: 0835 334574

Email: francescoabbondanza@gmail.com

EGO Restaurant and Bistro

EGO, standing for “enoteca, gourmet, origini”, rather than a person with a big ego, this is a restaurant and bistro with ambitions to use the best of ingredients in highly original ways and/or the utmost of care. The restaurant is on the ground floor level, where Puglian food is reinvented and revolutionised into something very intriguing and individual. The kitchen is in full view of diners, through the huge glass windows and glazed door to the dining room. Downstairs is a bistro serving excellent cocktails and more informal nibbles. Run and staffed by passionate food lovers, you will receive great recommendations and fabulous food. We visited both the restaurant for their tasting menu (highly recommended) and the bistro for evening drinks and were thoroughly impressed by the attention to detail and high quality of the food in an area of Italy where pride in food is very strong indeed.

Via Stigliana, 44, Matera

Telephone number: +39 392 90 30 963

Email: info@egogourmet.it

La Cola Cola Ristorante Pizzeria

La Cola Cola is not a fizzy drink tie-in; the name comes from a cockerel like ceramic figure made in the local area. When you need a light meal and pizza is the only thing which will fit the bill, this is the place for you. Set in a small, pedestrian-only road behind the main square, you might find Cola Cola a little difficult to locate. Ask people who live nearby, or follow the hungry locals on their way there. When you get there, the small doorway is immediately underwhelming. However, once you are in, you will realise this is a huge, cavernous temple to pizza. 

Made in the burning hot wood fired oven you walk past to get to your tables, the pizzas are big, thin and generously topped. All the produce is natural and sourced locally. Booking is essential, as this place is very popular with the Materans. If you haven’t booked, you may find yourself joining the queue for tables which gets distinctly longer as the evening progresses. Built in 1700, much of this place has been dug out of the Tufo rock, giving you something to think about when you see there are three large spaces in this restaurant. What a labour of love!

Vico Spartivento, 21, 75100 Matera

Telephone number: +39 339 706 8259

Website: http://www.lacolacola.it/?lang=en

This writeup and reviews represent the genuine views of Snigdha. Snigdha paid in full for her trip to Matera, and these views represent her experience. Snigdha has received no incentive, financial or otherwise for posting this blog post. 

Pasta Casareccia - a Linda Poulnott guest recipe post special

Those who are regular readers of my blog or are connected to my social media mutterings will be aware that I was fortunate enough to have Linda Poulnott write some wonderful food/recipe posts for my blog on the subject of Neapolitan (Southern) Italian cooking.

Linda, originally from Scotland, has lived for over 20 years in the Bay of Naples, where she has dedicated herself to learning the language, culture and food heritage of this amazing part of southern Italy, famous for inventing pizza.

I met Linda online, and was astonished about how much we had in common, despite being separated by a huge distance. Like me, she teaches for a living, and we both love music, guitars, food, wine, cooking in and eating out. I am lucky to know her and we are all fortunate that she is happy to share her culinary skill and knowledge with us all.

Linda Poulnott

Linda’s hassle free and simple approach to Italian food reflects her learning from locals. There aren’t dozens of ingredients and deeply complex preparation techniques. A focus on bringing out the best from quality ingredients is the key.

In case you didn’t get the chance to read them the first time, here are links to Linda’s previous brilliant and helpful posts:

Pasta with Broccoli: http://snigskitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/pasta-with-broccoli-guest-post-by-linda.html

Parmigiana di Melanzane (Neapolitan Baked Aubergines): http://snigskitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/parmigiana-di-melanzane-guest-post-by.html

Risotto con Funghi Misti (Risotto with mixed mushrooms):  http://snigskitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/risotto-con-funghi-misti-guest-post-by.html

How to cook like a Neapolitan Mamma (food and cooking advice): http://snigskitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/come-facette-mammeta-guest-post-by.html

This recipe is a pasta bake, and I have often heard Italians and those who love Italian food recommend the De Cecco brand of pasta as being one of the most authentic and reliable available outside of Italy. Linda has helpfully provided a photo of the packet of pasta she has used so that you can find it for yourself. 

I am fortunate enough to have a delightful Italian deli near me in Lewis Grove, Lewisham (south east London) which stocks De Cecco pastas, but some larger supermarkets also stock this brand.

My heartfelt thanks go to Linda for writing yet another recipe post and for her enthusiasm for spreading the real food of southern Italy.

If you have any questions, please feel free to either ask Linda on twitter as she is always helpful and friendly (just look out for @nnamorata) or post in the comments below. Any thank yous I am sure would be appreciated by Linda, so do reach out!

Buon appetito, readers! Now to hand over to Linda, the main event!

Firstly, I would like to thank Snigdha for giving me the chance to submit another recipe to her food blog. Hopefully, I can pass on some more of the local cooking tips that I've picked up over the many years of living in the bay of Naples.

As I have said before, the secret of good Neapolitan cooking is keeping it simple. Never drown your dishes in strong herbs and spices or flood them in lemon juice. The natural flavour of whatever you are cooking should always be paramount. Let it shine through!

PASTA CASARECCIA AL FORNO

This tasty dish is very easy to make and can be kept covered in the fridge to be reheated when you come home from work the next day. Cooked ham or pancetta is usually included in the recipe, but if you are vegetarian you can leave this out.

It's very "moreish", so I recommend that you make more than you really need (as long as you're not counting calories of course!). It's lovely eaten with a green salad to accompany it.

YOU WILL NEED

A large frying pan

A medium sized saucepan

A wooden spoon

A sieve or colander to drain the pasta

A casserole type oven dish

INGREDIENTS FOR 2 PEOPLE

250g of Casareccia shaped dry pasta (or if you can't find this, use any fusilli or tube type pasta. It will work just as well.)

200ml of single cream or cooking cream

1 small tin of garden peas or about 140g of frozen peas

30/40g of either chopped sliced cooked ham (you can use chopped pancetta or salami instead)

A few glugs of dry white wine

A few glugs of olive oil

A handful of grated grated parmesan (use pecorino or even cheddar if you don't have it) plus extra if you wish to add some to the breadcrumb topping

Half a cup of breadcrumbs (I usually buy the pre-prepared packs in the supermarket), please use natural breadcrumbs, not the orange dyed ones

Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to about 160 degrees C.

2. Heat up the frying pan over a medium heat add a couple of glugs of olive oil plus the ham, then after a minute or two add the drained peas. At this point, I also add the wine and reduce it.

3. Whilst the wine is reducing (which will take around 7 minutes), add salted, boiling water to a saucepan and start cooking the pasta. Locals keep some of the water that the pasta is cooked in, as it's starchy and great to use if you need more liquid in your sauce mix. Keep about half a mug full.

4. Once the wine has reduced I usually mash half of the pea mixture with my spoon until it resembles mushy peas. Add the cream and a little of the pasta water. Cook for another few minutes stirring occasionally and checking that the sauce doesn't dry out. If it does, add a little more of the pasta water.

5. When the sauce is ready, throw in a handful of grated parmesan and mix it through. It's best to salt and pepper to taste at this point, as adding the cheese will already make it quite salty. Add the cooked drained pasta and mix together.

6. Put the pasta mix in a casserole or oven dish but don't cover it. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

7. Bake in your preheated oven (at about 160 degrees C) for approximately 15 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden.

8.Serve and enjoy. Buon appetito!

My thanks once again to Linda Poulnott for providing this guest blog post and recipe. I have not received any form of incentive for posting it. However, even more surprising is the face that Linda has not received any form of payment or incentive (financial or otherwise) for writing this recipe post. I’m just as amazed as anyone, but that’s the kind and lovely person she is!