Fruit, vegetables and pulses

Senise peppers

Senise peppers PGI: sweet, thin-fleshed and made for drying on a string

Three types, Appuntito, Tronco and Uncino, grown in Senise and nearby towns across the provinces of Potenza and Matera, where peppers arrived in the 16th or 17th century. The PGI covers them fresh, dried on hand-threaded strings or ground into powder.

• Sweet in all three types, ripening from green to purple-red
• Thin flesh that dries well, turning a deep wine red
• A stalk that stays firmly attached even once dried: a quick sign to look for

How to enjoy it. Flash-fried in extra virgin olive oil, the dried pods become crunchy peperoni cruschi, eaten alone or crumbled over Lucanian dishes; the powder seasons soups and pasta.

Production areas

Basilicata

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