The Basilicata is a region that has made its food and wine peculiarities a great strong point for its tourists. The traditional cuisine of the territory of Bernalda, based on simple ingredients from the peasant culture, has been able to preserve delicious flavors over time.

Among its typical dishes, several are of very ancient origin. One is its cooked bread, where day-old bread is soaked in water, seasoned with oil, salt and oregano, put in the oven, and then served hot. Another way to recall its tradition is to boil beets in water and mix them with breadcrumbs that have been fried with oil and garlic.

The long journey among local products starts from the PDO oil of the Vulture and certainly passes through its hot peppers, characterized by their low water content. Once the peduncles of the peppers have been strung with a string, obtaining a necklaces called “serte”, and after being quickly dried in a strictly natural manner, the hot peppers are fried in extra virgin olive oil for a crisp and fragrant product, ideally used for garnishing first courses, red meats, or salted cod. When ground, they are excellent for accompanying a variety of dishes and also used for preparing cheeses and cold cuts, as well as for seasoning pasta with sauce, garlic, oil, and fried breadcrumbs.

The gastronomic itinerary continues with the red eggplant, pecorino cheese, caciocavallo cheese from Podolica cows, mushrooms, horse meat, salted cod and, finally, savoring the Aglianico del Vulture, one of the most prestigious red wines in the national enological panorama.

Other typical products of the Lucania territory include: fiordilatte cheese from the southern Apennines, padraccio cheese from Pollino, casieddu braided cheese, burrino cheese, cacioricotta cheese, toma sheep's cheese, headcheese, Lucanica sausage from Cancellara, pezzente salami, ventresca tuna belly, Sarconi beans, Senise hot peppers, poverello beans from Rotonda, Matera bread, chestnuts, fresh pasta, Ofanto cauliflower, San Severo potatoes, black summer truffles, and staccia oranges and white percoco peaches from Tursi.