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Sardinia

SARDINIA

TERRITORY

AND HISTORY

Sardinia is a large Italian island located in the Mediterranean Sea and characterized by about 2000 km of coastline, sandy beaches and a mountainous hinterland crossed by hiking trails. Its jagged landscape is dotted with thousands of nuraghi, mysterious stone ruins shaped like beehives, built in the Bronze Age.

Rich in raw materials and water, its territory has always favored the settlement and the establishment of considerable settlements. Thus it was that the island in its thousand-year history has been able to take advantage of both its insularity and its strategic position, as an essential place in the network of ancient routes. In its historical and cultural heritage there is abundant evidence of indigenous cultures but also the influences and presences of the major ancient colonial powers.

CUISINE

AND TRIDITIONS

Sardinian cuisine is the expression of culinary art developed in Sardinia and is characterized by its variety, as well as by being enriched in history through contributions and contaminations from contacts and exchanges between different Mediterranean cultures. Varied and diversified, it ranges from roasted meats, to bread, cheeses, wines, to sea and land dishes, both of peasant and pastoral origin, of game, fishing and collection of wild herbs. It is considered part of the Mediterranean diet, a nutritional model proclaimed in 2010 by UNESCO as an oral and intangible heritage of humanity.

Popular traditions, in their multiform manifestations, are still deeply rooted in Sardinian culture.
The traditional dress expresses the character of a land with a millenary history and if, by now, there are few centers on the island where it is still worn daily, during the great festivals, such as that of Sant'Efisio in Cagliari or the Cavalcade of Sassari can be admired in all its variations.

Sardinia has a wealth of rather rich native grapes. In the island there is also the presence of international grapes, which are usually used in the production of wines, often in assembly to local ones. Although throughout the region many types of wines are produced, in the central and northern part of Sardinia there is a greater production of white wines, while the production of red wines is more concentrated in the southern part of the island.

TYPICAL DISHES

Made in Itlay - Cibi Italiani - Sardegna

Seafood Fregola

The fregola, which means bread crumbs, is a typical Sardinian pasta made of semolina and rolled into small balls. There are plenty of ways to cook fregola but the most delicious is certainly the fregola with seafood, such as clams and shrimp served with saffron broth and toasted bread. Sardinia is an important producer of saffron in Italy. This wonderful and precious spice of intense red color is in fact used in many typical Sardinian dishes.

Zuppa Gallurese

A typical dish of Gallura, the region that is located in the northern part of Sardinia that goes from Badesi to San Teodoro and hosts the most beautiful beaches in Sardinia. The consistency could be that of lasagne and consists of layers of bread (different types of bread are used depending on the geographical area) seasoned with cheese and sheep broth, then baked.

Bottarga

The bottarga owes its Sardinian origin to Cabras, a small town located on the west coast of Sardinia. These are dried mullet roe and can be enjoyed cut into thin slices as an appetizer, or powdered to flavor pasta, preferably linguine or spaghetti.

Porcheddù

It is prepared with a young pig of no more than six or seven kilos, perfectly cleaned internally and externally, cut lengthwise and inserted on the spit. It is salted only half-cooked so that a crispy rind and tender meat will eventually turn out. Porceddu is traditionally flavored and spiced with saffron, black pepper or nutmeg, myrtle, thyme and mint.

Carasau Bread

Carasau bread is a typical Sardinian bread spread throughout Sardinia, with a very thin and crunchy disc shape, suitable for long-term storage. Due to its particular crunchiness, which makes chewing noisy, outside of Sardinia it is sometimes called, in Italian, music paper. The basic ingredients are yeast, salt, water and durum wheat semolina.

Spaghetti with sea urchins

The best time to enjoy it is from November to April, when the sea urchins season is open. In fact, during the other periods of the year it is forbidden to fish this marine delicacy and also in the period in which it is allowed, each fisherman can only collect a limited number of hedgehogs, in order to protect this species.

Casu Martzu

It is pecorino cheese, or better goat cheese, colonized by the larvae of the cheese fly which for this reason is known as cheese fly (Piophila casei). Depending on the historical regions of the island it is also known in the Sardinian language as casu marzu, casu mùchidu, casu modde, casu bèiu, casu fatitu, casu giampagadu, casu 'atu, casu cundítu.