The bread of Matera ("U'pp'en d' Matair")
The economy of the time was mainly based on agricultural and pastoral activities. Culinary traditions, therefore, were based on all products derived from these activities. These dishes were cooked in various ways and gave the dishes simple but refined flavors. The proximity to Apulia and Calabria, contributed to influence traditional tastes and dishes.
One of the millenary products of our kitchen is the excellent bread produced by the processing of durum wheat and cooked strictly on wood. This cooking gives the bread its characteristic feature of a very soft crumb covered with a crispy crust. The bread of Matera is the only bread in denomination in Basilicata. The originality of the bread of Matera comes from ancient traditions dating back to the Kingdom of Naples.
The use of ancient durum wheat varieties cultivated in the area such as Duro Lucano or Cappelli from which you get fine flour. These flours give the bread of Matera the taste and color unique in the world. The production process, handed down over the years, is followed with scrupulousness. Thanks to the different folds, different types of bread stick, high, low, croissant. All the different shapes enclose within the fragrant crust a "soul" from the straw color image of the stretches of wheat of Basilicata.
The originality of the bread of Matera comes from ancient traditions dating back to the Kingdom of Naples. The use of ancient durum wheat varieties cultivated in the area such as Duro Lucano or Cappelli from which you get fine flour. These flours give the bread of Matera the taste and color unique in the world. The production process, handed down over the years, is followed with scrupulousness. Thanks to the different folds, different types of bread stick, high, low, croissant.
The stamps of the bread ("U' tumbr du'ppen")
The production of bread is linked, even in Matera, ancient rites. The day of bread making was a feast for the whole family. It began in the evening with the recovery of the sourdough, preserved by the last bakery and the formation of the dough, which in the "majustr" (a clay container) leavened.
And the next morning he made the dough, and leavened; and after it was leavened, the baker came and took bread. The women then went to the oven, where they carefully followed the fate of their bread. To recognize it they branded it with hard wood stamps, in which were engraved the family initials many families still retain these stamps now become one of our objects of local craftsmanship.
A central element of food, bread was a sacred food.
The typical dishes derived from bread
With the scraps of the dough he made the sniper fried, which passed into the sugar was the joy of children. From the bread derive then other typical dishes. The famous "waffle" once a symbol of the poverty of our ancestors. These, in fact, not to waste the precious bread now stale, cooked it in various ways. The most typical waffle is the one with the egg and the addition of products such as olives.
With the scraps of the dough he made the sniper fried, which passed into the sugar was the joy of children. From the bread derive then other typical dishes. The famous "waffle" once a symbol of the poverty of our ancestors. These, in fact, not to waste the precious bread now stale, cooked it in various ways. The most typical waffle is the one with the egg and the addition of products such as olives. Other ways of cooking waffles are with oranges or vegetables.
Other typical products derived from bread are the breasts that even today our mothers prepare during the Christmas period. Fava beans with chicory and pineapple are also excellent when added to toast. To accompany the various meals nothing is better than the "fedda rossa" obtained by spreading a fresh tomato on the slice toasted bread on the grill.
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