An Old Classic, Basilicata Style

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Basilicata deserves culinary recognition if only for the giant omelette of 1535. At least according to legend, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V came to visit that year. The abbot of the monastery of San Lorenzo wanted to make the emperor's stay memorable so he ordered his cooks to make an omelette with one thousand eggs. As best I can find, the abbot's record for the world's largest omelette still stands.

Otherwise, the food of Basilicata is notable for its unifying theme of hot and spicy. Like many southern people, the folk of Basilicata like strongly flavored food. Tiny hot red pimentos are found in almost every recipe, including simple egg dishes. Sauces are highly seasoned with peppers and abundant amounts of ginger. As you will see in the recipe below, Basilicata cooks change the character of the cacciatora, or hunter's sauce, so common throughout Italy, by adding hot peppers.

Basilicata is well-known in Italy for its sausages, which, you can probably guess, are highly spiced. The region is sometimes called by its Roman name Lucania; the word for a person from Basilicata is lucano. In other regions of Italy, spicy sausages are often known as lucanica, or sometimes luganiga, which means in the spicy style associated with sausage from Basilicata.

The people of Basilicata are especially fond of game. I have adapted a traditional rabbit dish, lepre alla cacciatora, for American grocery stores, since neither rabbit nor Basilicata peppers are normally available in this country. The sauce is similar to other cacciatore, with the addition of hot peppers. I think it would overpower a milder subject such as chicken but it works admirably with the rabbit.

LEPRE ALLA CACCIATORA
(Rabbit in the Style of the Hunter)

Ingredients

1 rabbit, 3 to 4 pounds, cleaned and cut into 8 pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Serrano chiles (preferably red), seeds removed, minced
2 cups red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a heavy-lidded casserole. Add the rabbit pieces and the garlic and sauté until the rabbit pieces are brown. Add the chiles and continue to sauté for one minute. Add half of the vinegar and an equal amount of water and cover. Place casserole in oven for one hour, checking occasionally to make sure the rabbit is not drying out. If it is, add additional vinegar.

When rabbit is done, remove the pieces from the casserole to a serving dish and keep warm. Place the casserole over high heat, add the remaining vinegar and the cornstarch-water mixture and boil until sauce is reduced, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits. Pour the sauce over the rabbit and serve.

Sims Brannon, Los Angeles

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