Typical Lucanian Christmas sweets: festive flavours of Basilicata
At Christmas in Basilicata, kitchens smell of figs, cinnamon and almonds. Every village has its own sweets and family recipes, but some flavours are found everywhere. Here are the typical Lucanian festive sweets and the ones we make in our bakery in Irsina.
Fig syrup, the flavour of the holidays
One of the most typical flavours of Lucanian Christmas sweets is cotto di fichi, a fig syrup that many call vincotto. It is made at the end of summer by slowly cooking ripe figs until they become a dark, thick syrup. It is especially common in Basilicata and Puglia.
Traditional sweets
On Lucanian Christmas tables you will often find:
- cartellate, ribbons of fried pastry rolled up and drizzled with honey or vincotto;
- calzoncelli, small fried parcels with a filling, for example almonds or chestnuts and chocolate;
- crespelle, simple and moreish;
- mostaccioli, dark spiced biscuits that are made all over southern Italy, with different recipes.
Many of these sweets are made at home, all together, in the days before the holidays. In our bakery we have chosen the ones that keep well and can be shipped, so you can bring them to the table wherever you are.
Our vincotto sweets
Our vincotto mostaccioli are made with olive oil, cocoa, lemon and fig syrup. As well as the classic version, we make them with four coatings:
Our vincotto pezzetti combine flour and durum wheat semolina with fig syrup, unsweetened cocoa, cinnamon and lemon. We tell you about both in the article Mostaccioli and vincotto bites.
Festive almonds
Almonds are the other great flavour of Christmas in the South. Here they become almond pastries, with cinnamon and lemon, and chocolate scorzette, with egg white, toasted almonds and dark chocolate.
And then there's panettone
Alongside traditional Lucanian sweets, at Christmas we also bake our panettoni, in six flavours: from the Tradizionale Innovativo with candied Sicilian orange and raisins to the Gianduia Intenso. If you can't decide, our guide to the six flavours will help.
Bring them to the table
You will find all our festive sweets in the Christmas collection. Ingredients, allergens and shelf life are listed on each product page: if you are preparing gifts in advance, keep an eye on it. And if you are looking for gift ideas, read our Christmas gift ideas.