Faeto’s tagliatelle and beans, called lavanèlle e fasùle in the Franco-Provençal dialect still spoken in the village today, are nothing more than homemade fresh pasta, beans slowly cooked with pork rind, and a drizzle of raw olive oil to finish. Nothing else. A recipe that has existed for generations without any further updates, because it never needed them.

Faeto is located in the Alta Valle del Celone, in the heart of the southern Monti Dauni (Dauni Mountains). It is one of the last villages in Italy where a language of Occitan origin is still spoken, brought here in the Middle Ages by transalpine colonies. This linguistic, cultural and gastronomic uniqueness makes it a destination unlike any other in the food and wine landscape of the Alta Valle del Celone.

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Faeto Beans: A Product That Exists Only Here

Faeto’s traditional recipes come from a cuisine of necessity, the one practiced by farmers and shepherds of the Monti Dauni when every ingredient mattered and nothing could be wasted. Lavanèlle are hand-rolled fresh tagliatelle, part of the same rural tradition found throughout inland Italy. But the beans of the Monti Dauni are something entirely different.

The beans grown in Faeto are a Traditional Agri-food Product (PAT) recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture: a local variety adapted over centuries to the conditions of the Subappennino Dauno, with thin skins and a floury texture that dissolves in broth without losing structure. They are found nowhere else. They are one of those products rooted so deeply in a place that they exist only there, like the language still heard in the streets.

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The Recipe: One Pot, Few Ingredients, Slow Cooking

The method is straightforward, faithful to the logic of inland Puglian (Apulian) peasant cuisine. The beans are cooked in a pignatta (a traditional earthenware pot) with water, salt, carrot, celery, onion, and pork rind. The pork rind adds flavor, enriches the broth, makes it dense and full-bodied, and gives the dish that distinctive animal note that sets it apart from generic soup.

In a separate pot, the lavanèlle are cooked. About two minutes before the end of cooking, most of the water is drained, and the pasta is poured directly into the bean and pork rind broth to finish cooking together. The starch released by the tagliatelle thickens the broth; the pasta absorbs the flavors of the beans and pork rind, and the dish becomes one unified preparation. It is served with a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil: nothing else.

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What to Eat in Faeto: A Village Also Experienced at the Table

Those looking for authentic villages in Puglia with a food tradition tied to the land will find Faeto to be a rare reference point. It is not just a dish to taste: the food of this village is a gateway to its history, to enduring local traditions, and to a place that has never pursued mass tourism.

The traditional products of the southern Monti Dauni surrounding Faeto’s cuisine, from PAT beans to olive oil, from cured meats to wild herbs, reflect a relationship with the landscape that is also expressed in its dishes. Those walking the trails of the Daunia through beech forests and Apennine landscapes will find in this village a stopping point worth the detour for the quiet quality of what has been preserved.

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Discover Other Flavors and Villages of the Alta Valle del Celone

Lavanèlle e fasùle are only one element of the gastronomic and cultural identity of this corner of Puglia. In Faeto and the nearby towns of Celle di San Vito and Castelluccio Valmaggiore, there are other dishes, other stories, and other places worth discovering.

Continue exploring the site to discover the gastronomic excellence of the Subappennino Dauno, the natural itineraries, the local traditions, and the medieval heritage of the Alta Valle del Celone: every page is a piece of a territory that deserves to be discovered slowly.