Products and dishes of Cilento

The Mediterranean Diet: did you know that it is really from Cilento?

Did you know that the Mediterranean diet was born in Pioppi, Cilento? That is why there are so many recipes and Cilento is rich in products and dishes.

In  our family complex, we want good food without sacrificing the authenticity and flavours of the past. If you want to visit Palinuro and the surrounding area or do some hiking in the Park to fully enjoy a vacation in contact with nature, you may want to satiate the palate with the gastronomy of our territory.

Anyone who chooses our holiday homes with pool knows how much attention we give to families with children and for all those who want to maintain a natural and healthy lifestyle, which is why we offer holidays in Palinuro in apartments surrounded by greenery.

And then the gastronomic richness of a land that knows how to appreciate the good life at the table. From the mountains to the sea there are so many dishes using local produce to be discovered, along with valuable oil and excellent DOC wine of which there is no shortage in this area. Do not miss the famous lagane with chickpeas and cavatelli with meat sauce.

Here’s a taste of the good food in Cilento

Typical products of Cilento

• Menaica Anchovies: the name comes from the ancient fishing technique with rowing boats (the “menaide”), typical of Pisciotta. They are often stuffed with goat cheese and called ‘mbottunate anchovies.
• Caciocavallo cheese: a hard cheese produced in the traditional manner at only certain times of the year. It takes its name from the milk of Podolica cows.
• Cacioricotta: a cheese made from goat’s, sheep’s and cow’s milk that is very similar to ricotta.
• Cicerale chickpeas: smaller than regular peas, these are rich in minerals and typical of the town of Cicerale, from where they take their name.
• White figs: owe their name to the light yellow colour of the skin, a real delicacy, especially when dried and coated with chocolate
• Mozzarella co’a mortedda: is often preserved in sprigs of “mortedda”, the dialect name for myrtle
• Olive oil: a pale yellow colour, produced by ancient olive trees from Pisciotta
• Soppressata of Gioi: a lightly smoked sausage with a central piece of bacon. A local standard of Gioi, is the only larded salami typical of Campania.
• DOC Cilento and Castel San Lorenzo in the varieties of white, red, rosé, muscat and Aglianico, wines which are rich in history and praised by poets and singers

Typical dishes of Cilento

• Cavatelli with meat sauce: fresh pasta so-called because the pieces of dough are “plucked” with the fingers.
• Ciambotta: a traditional poor Cilento vegetable dish. Usually we use potatoes, aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, chilli, onion, herbs.
• Cicci ammaretati: vegetable soup born in times when the peasants “married” all the leftovers that they had at home. Made from chickpeas, lentils, corn, wheat, beans, cannellini beans and chestnuts
• Freselle with tomato: a slice of bread, put back in the oven (and therefore “bi-scottata”, biscuited) and simply sponged with water. It is said that the sailors, confined for months at sea without touching land, took considerable amounts with them, to dunk in the sea.
• Lagane and chickpeas: a sort of pappardelle made with wheat flour and water and seasoned with tasty local chickpeas.
• Maracucciata: a polenta made from “maracuoccio”, small bean-like peas
• Pasta and broad beans: first course where oil, salt and onions are the only ingredients to add to broad beans, served in traditional clay pan
• Chestnut Pastorelle: typical Christmas cake of Cuccaro Vetere. The name of these cakes stuffed with chestnuts probably remember some young local girl or a figure from the nativity, while the shape evokes the stars of the Holy Night
• Pizza chiena: the name indicates the so-called “stuffed pizza” and is called “chiena” because it’s stuffed with salami and cheese. They are normally made on Good Friday, so they can stand all day, ready to be enjoyed on Easter Day or Easter Monday.
• Scauratielli: typical Cilentan Christmas donuts with a braided ribbon-shape and flavored with rosemary
• Viccio cu l’uovo: typical Easter recipe in the Cilento. It’s a braid of white bread containing an egg. The braided shape recalls the appearance of an infant in swaddling clothes, symbol of new life