Still, in the places that were beloved by Frederick II – as demonstrated by the castles in Menfi and Lagopesole, among others – one can find beautiful art and landscapes, as well as good culinary destinations.

Within a few kilometres’ range, just to mention a few – one can find Vincenzo Tiri’s oven in Acerenza – where a fantastic awarded panettone is made -, a nice resort called Le Masserie Del Falco in Forenza, where young chef Gianfranco Bruno is at work in the kitchen, as well as Salvatore Gatta’s “Verace Pizza Napoletana” (Salvatore is in the photo with Oliviero Toscani) which is itself worth the trip to Scalera, a small hamlet of Filiano.

Here you can find Fandango, a cosy Irish-style pub which is about to change offer, following the journey of Salvatore who, after starting off as an ice cream maker, later started to work with pizza, following the steps of his mother Assunta, adding beer and music.

Today – given his age and the results he’s obtained – pizza is at the core of his work: soft and light dough, perhaps more similar to that of Franco Pepe than to the orthodox Neapolitan tradition – made with mother yeast, a long maturation, and a kneading machine reproducing the gestures of hand kneading – and excellent toppings.

These mostly refer to regional tradition, richer than one would ever imagine, starting from various Slow Food Presidia, whose philosophy Salvatore holds dear: from buffalo milk mozzarella made near Lavello to salame pezzente, to the delicious baked olives from Ferrandina and the peperoni cruschi of Senise, known as zafarani due to the powder resulting from them and their preciousness.

Try the Lucana, with buffalo milk mozzarella, piennolo tomatoes, a home made pesto made with walnuts and basil, olives from Ferrandina, local “saffron” made with peppers and shaved caciocavallo podolico.

Luciana Squadrilli
source: http://newsletter.identitagolose.it/email.php?id=568

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