the shepherd’s bread

The origins of the Sardinian cuisine are rooted in the traditions of the peasants who used the products of the earth and flocks, containing above all, bread made by a variety of methods - the most famous being the very thin carasau, the shepherd’s bread, which will keep well for some time, poetically renamed carta da musica (sheet music). It is made with durum wheat semolina, yeast and salt and is used to prepare the pane fratau, the famous appetising soup. Variations of carasau include the bissau di Benetutti, the spianata di Ozieri (Ozieri flat), the crivaxiu del Campidano of Cagliari, the pistoccu of Nuoro. Other types of bread include the coccoi, made with hard dough, Gallurian lu coccu, unleavened bread baked in the ashes and made with bran. The production of cheese also comes from peasant origins, primarily pecorino (sheep’s cheese) of various types, for example pecorino sardo, fiore sardo, pecorino romano, canestrato, but also from provole (casizzolos) and cow’s and goat’s cheese from Dorgali and Fonni. Cereal soup holds an important place among the first courses. These include su farri made with barley, sa fregula made with wheat, vegetable soup, bread and broth, Gallurian soup with stale bread, broth and fresh cheese. Malloreddus (Sardinian gnocchetti – small potato dumplings) usually served with tomato sauce, minced meat and sausage, are very well known, as are maccarones – made with Durum wheat pasta and water.
There are many varieties of ravioli to taste which are named according to the areas they come from, such as anselottos, culurgiones and culingiones. They are filled with anything from spinach and ricotta cheese, meat, fresh cheese with potato and mint or ricotta and orange peel and so on.
Another tasty pasta is the previously mentioned Sa fregula, made with thick semolina made into small balls and toasted. Ferritus are especially satisfying - twisted around a knitting needle to make a spiral shape. The panadas – a type of pizza or pizza stuffed with vegetables and meat, eaten as a first course or snack, is also widespread. Also characteristic in certain areas in the south is cascà (Arabian cous cous). The main course that symbolises Sardinia is porcetta – spit roast suckling piglet. Evidence of Sardinia being an island, is the wide variety of seafood available. You can choose from lobster, Olbian mussels, Cagligarian and Oristanian mussels, the Oristanian grey mullet, not to mention the burridda, made with dogfish, chopped walnuts, oil, vinegar , and spices, pickled and served either as an hors’dœuvre or main course. Finally, most of the sweets are made of sweet or bitter almonds, honey, or saba (cooked grape must).
Some sweets have local names. The candelaus, for example, a sweet made with almond paste, water, sugar and orange blossom. There is also the aranzada of Nuoro, the gattò – orange flavoured sugared almonds, papassini, amaretti of Carloforte, Ozieri and Oristano, torrone from Tonara, myrtle or honey ricotta. The most famous sweet, however, is the seada or sebada, enormous and round filled with stringy cheese, sprinkled with honey.
At the end of the meal as a digestive there is always the obligatory glass of perfumed myrtle liqueur, obtained by marinating the violet-black berries in alcohol and molasses sugar, or acqua vite (Fogu de Sardinia, Gennargentu, Filu and Ferru).