Basilicata is a safe haven for carb-lovers – the region is awash with wonderful pasta and bread – but if you’re looking for the flavour that defines this southerly region, it’s undoubtedly the sweet, smoky scent of the peperone di Senise, or Senise pepper.
There’s no such thing as an indigenous pepper in Italy, or indeed Europe. The peppers that have become so popular here can all be traced back to the New World, where they were famously discovered by Christopher Columbus and then spread across Europe by Spanish merchants and traders in the sixteenth century. The temperate climate in southern Italy made these peppers easy to cultivate, and over the course of six centuries they have become a much-loved staple in places like Calabria, Basilicata and Sicily.
Senise peppers have their origins in the Antilles, but they have since become a recognisable symbol of Basilicata and a cornerstone of the region’s cuisine. They have been grown around the town of Senise since the 1500s; Senise itself sits near the Calabrian border, right next to the enormous Monte Cotugno basin – a man-made lake built in the 1980s that has since become an important wildlife reserve in the Pollino National Park. The construction of Monte Cotugno once threatened the cultivation of Senise peppers, as it took up the majority of their growing area – fortunately farmers relocated most of the peppers to new terrain, and Senise peppers have since been awarded IGP status, meaning that their cultivation in the area is now protected by law.
