The gastronomy in Sardinia is an inseparable part of the culture and travellers can eat very well all over the island. A wine and gastronomy trip in Sardinia can fill your whole holiday if you want, without eating same dish twice. You will be impressed by the variety of plates that the island can offer and we will guide you with some suggestions.
Sardinia's cuisine is distinctly different from that in the rest of Italy, perhaps owing to its location far from the mainland. Local chefs pride themselves on using only the freshest ingredients. Cooking styles are simple but flavourful, something the locals love.
The best place to start a gastronomic journey of the region is in the capital city of Cagliari. There are some great food markets, top notch cooking schools, fresh produce and excellent restaurants and bars.
While on your holiday here, you will get to tuck into freshly baked breads, juicy olives, rich wines, tangy cheeses, cool ice creams and fresh seafood. Even if you have tried seafood in the Mediterranean before, the Sardinian style of cooking is something else!
Lamb is also popular since sheep rearing is a major source of livelihood in the mountainous interior areas. Fennel, chestnuts and sheep's milk are other popular ingredients. Chestnuts are used to make some mouth-watering desserts that shouldn't be missed.
Roasting food and making flavoursome stews is common. The roast lobster and mussel stews are especially delicious. The local pasta 'Malloreddus' is a hot favourite with many travellers. It is used in a number of different pasta dishes and stews and is commonly served up with saffron or fennel-seasoned rabbit or chicken.
The cooking sauces here are soupy and most poultry and meat-based stews are usually served with bread or potatoes to mop up the sauce. Together, they make a complete and thoroughly satisfying meal.
Sardinian pastas closely resemble food from the Middle East. Unlike in Italy where spaghetti, tagliatelle and lasagna are widely used, here it is the heartier fusilli and grains that are popular.
The terrain with limestone rocks, and the bracing sea breezes, pleasant climate and mild weather make the region ideally suited for wine making. Locally made wines are famous globally for their robustness, balanced by smooth flavours and heady fragrances which remind connoisseurs of the breathtaking scenery that surrounds vineyards in the area. Winemaking has been an integral part of Sardinian culture since ancient times. With time, the techniques have changed but the wines are just as good.
Even within Sardinia, coastal and inland cuisines each have their distinctive styles.
Inland cuisine - ancient Sardinian cuisine - The cuisine of the interior mountainous region of the island is marked by its use of meats. Roasting is a popular technique and suckling pigs, roasted game and wild animals make a wonderful meal. These meats are accompanied by cheese and bread. Honey and cold meats are consumed in copious amounts but it is the game and mushroom-based foods that are easily the winners!
Coastal cuisine - more recent Sardinian cuisine - Predictably, people in the coastal belt of Sardinia love their seafood. With plenty of fresh seafood and fish available to them all year round, locals have made a fine art of cooking seafood. Each area has its own style of cooking fish and you'll need a long holiday to get through tasting all the different dishes they have dreamed up.
The specialities
Carta de musica
Translated, Carta de musica means music sheet/paper. This delicate crisp flatbread is shaped like a circle and is also known as pane fresa on the coast and pane carasau inland.
Spit-roasted meats
Suckling pig, wild game and baby lamb are usually cooked whole on a wooden charcoal fire infused with aromatic herbs. The smoky yet delicate aromas work well with the strong meaty flavours to create a heady taste.
Panada
Panada is an eel or minced meat pie made from flaky pastry.
Pecorino Sardo
If you're familiar with the Pecorino Romano, you'll find that this ewe's milk cheese is quite similar. The cheese is Sardinia's pride - and with good reason.
Malloreddus
A local pasta similar to gnocchi but smaller, it goes well with a tomato sauce.
Bottarga
Bottarga is served on its own as an appetizer or included as an ingredient in other recipes where it imparts its flavours. It is made by packing tuna roe or salted mullet into a tight mass and then slicing it into thin pieces.
Burrida
This is Sardinia's own version of the Italian Burrida fish stew.
Culingiones
This stuffed pasta is ravioli, shaped like a little pouch, and packed with pecorino cheese and deep green spinach.
Cannonau
This strong red is a great wine that goes well with roasted meat.
Mirtu liquor
Served at the end of a meal as digestive, the myrtle berry liquor can be quite strong.
Meet your local connection in Sardinia, Italy, Pier Paolo & the team of Insula Tour! We are proud to be a part of whl.travel and are working hard to propose some original solutions to tourism, working with small local accommodations and home stays in old villages on the island to help promote a more "authentic" Sardinia. Although we offer some beach resorts, we also offer hotels with charming character owned by Sardinians and not by foreign companies.
