APULICA / FRESH PASTA, BREAD AND PASTRY
Latronico figure-of-eight biscuit
PAT · Fresh pasta, bread and pastry · Basilicata
In brief
- A savoury figure-of-eight tarallo made only from local soft-wheat flour, water and salt. (Comune di Latronico — Tradizioni e folklore)
- By village custom it is boiled and then baked; the municipality credits its character to carosella flour, an old soft wheat. (Comune di Latronico — Tradizioni e folklore)
- Born as a household bake, it has also been made commercially since the late 1970s. (Comune di Latronico — Tradizioni e folklore)
History and origin
Latronico is a mountain town in Basilicata, in the province of Potenza, whose history bears many influences: the Municipality points to the legacy of Magna Graecia and then to Norman, French and Spanish rule, which left techniques and customs still alive today. Among the town's flavours, the figure-of-eight biscuit is the baked good above all others.
For a long time it was a family product, made at home according to Latronico's old tradition. From the late 1970s it also began to be produced for sale, opening a new chapter in its history.
It was above all the town's emigrants, scattered across the world, who made it known far away: thanks to them the biscuit has reached several European countries and, across the ocean, the United States and South America. Today it is on the national list of traditional agri-food products of Basilicata.
Sources: Comune di Latronico — Tradizioni e folklore · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)
Area and method of production
The recipe is very simple: soft wheat flour, water and salt. The flour comes from wheat grown in Latronico and nearby villages, and the Municipality stresses the role of carosella, an old variety of soft wheat that has survived to this day and gives the biscuit its character.
The dough is shaped into a biscuit with a distinctive form, like the number eight. Production follows a step typical of the town's tradition: the biscuit is first boiled and only then baked in the oven.
The Municipality now describes it as a product with a certified supply chain, tied to local wheat growing.
How to recognise it
It is a savoury tarallo shaped like an eight, easy to recognise by the very design that gives it its name. It is a simple baked good, born in homes and cooked twice: first in water, then in the oven.
It has only three ingredients and no fat: for this reason the Municipality presents it as a staple of the Mediterranean diet. Its flavour depends entirely on the flour, and carosella wheat is what makes it special.
The national list of traditional products records it for Basilicata under the name Biscotto a otto di Latronico.
Sources: Comune di Latronico — Tradizioni e folklore · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)
In the kitchen
The figure-of-eight biscuit is a table companion rather than a sweet. The Municipality of Latronico recommends enjoying it with cheese, cured meats, honey and a good glass of red wine.
In the town's cooking it sits alongside other local products: sheep's and goat's cheeses, ricotta, and the cured meats that families still make at home, from sausage to soppressata, ham and capocollo. It is the same table as the homemade pasta dishes the Municipality lists among local specialities, such as lagane with chickpeas, tagliolini with beans and ground dried peppers, and maccaruni with breadcrumbs.
Where to taste it
The biscuit is found in Latronico, a mountain town at almost nine hundred metres, bordering among others Lauria, Episcopia and Castelsaraceno. It is where the biscuit was born and where it is still made.
The Municipality has created a self-guided walking route through the old town: it starts from Piazza Umberto I and, following signs numbered 1 to 124, runs through lanes, underpasses called spuorti and viewpoints. It takes in the Ducal Palace, the church of San Nicola, the basilica of Sant'Egidio, the old washhouses and fountains, with views of Colle dei Greci and Monte Alpi, source of the grey stone carved by local stonemasons.
Visitors to Lauria and southern Basilicata can go up to Latronico for this walk and to taste the figure-of-eight biscuit with local cheeses and cured meats.
Sources: Comune di Latronico — Passeggiare nel centro storico di Latronico · Comune di Latronico — Scheda del Comune · Comune di Latronico — Tradizioni e folklore
Protection
- Traditional agri-food product (PAT) — Basilicata, n. 142, 26th revision (Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026) · Comune di Latronico — Tradizioni e folklore)
When
- The sources consulted give no months.
Where
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Lauria figure-of-eight biscuits and gassosa
Lauria's and Latronico's traditional biscuits and sweets in the 2026 national list, the figure-of-eight recipe according to the Comune of Latronico, the Pollino tarallo, gassosa between memory and sources, and two towns between Monte Alpi and the Noce valley.
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