Sardinian goodies

Italian cuisine is the best cuisine in the world, with each province having its own signature dishes, which envy the cuisine of any randomly selected country. In this context, Sardinia cannot be called a gastronomic champion. Nevertheless, Sardinia has something to boast about in culinary terms.

I will present this story about Sardinian food in the classic Italian order of dishes, from appetizers to pizza and pasta to the main dish to dessert.

I must say right away that we could not find the craziest Sardinian dishes. This is, firstly, about the cheese in which live larvae swarm and jump. Secondly, about snails that are buried for six months in the ground, they go bad there and are fed as such. And thirdly, about sea urchins, which are added to pasta at several fishing restaurants during the season. As I understand it, cheese with larvae is currently prohibited, so you can only try it illegally. Those who read my magazine know that this would not stop me – but there was no chance. Yet we tried a few other exotic Sardinian products!

Antipasti
So, let’s start with the appetizers. In one small place on a narrow street in Cagliari, we noticed the opportunity to try a selection of local dishes along with local wines. That’s what came out of it. Delicious incredible! For me, of course, mushrooms come first, but also this cheese with plum marmalade (this is ricotta fume) and thinly sliced ​​pork cheeks and signature Sardinian casizolu and in general all this together with Sardinian red wine. In this case, it is one of the three main Sardinian varieties – cannonau.

Another set of snacks – this time in a restaurant in Sassari. The cheese that we see in the foreground is, of course, pecorino – Sardinia’s signature goat cheese. Charming

Exotic time. In another restaurant in Sassari, we tried two types of snails at once (in general, they had three – they all varied in size, taste and sauce). Type Number One:

Type number two. In this case, the snails were very tender, although of course it is quite a heavy meal – after one such snack I had a feeling of complete satiety.

Another appetizer. Nothing is simpler – it’s just melted cheese on rye bread, but how delicious!

And in the section on snacks, I’ll also mention this bread called pistoccu and which is served in Sardinia everywhere and all the time as bread for the main course. It has a peculiar taste – it seems to me that it is made with the addition of potatoes. In this case, I took a picture of him in a supermarket.

Pizza and Pasta
Along with mushrooms, avocados and endives, artichokes are among my favorite foods. Delicate pizza with artichokes and caviar is also a specialty of Sardinia:

Pizza in a small restaurant in Alghero is perhaps the most delicious pizza in my life. Just tomatoes with mozzarella. Aerial cheese clouds in the red sky. Fantasy.

Pizza in Alghero – in Sardinia, they like to add this bitter herb to all – radicchio (Italian chicory). And here salsiccia – spicy pork sausages.

It is not even pizza, although it is offered along with pizza at the pizzeria in Sassari. This fainè is such a special thin pea meal casserole. Sardinian specialty. In this case, with mushrooms.

Tagliatelle with mushrooms and salted ricotta in Sassari.

Culurgiones is a Sardinian specialty. These are such special dumplings filled with ricotta and spinach. In this case, they are accompanied by mushrooms and bacon.

And finally, another signature Sardinian dish. This is a seafood frigola (fregola con arselle). Fregola is a special type of pasta that looks like couscous and tastes like beans.

Secondi
The line for main dishes. In Sardinia, delicious fish everywhere, which is prepared very simply – on the grill – sprinkled with plenty of salt. Real jam! This is spigola – sea bass.

What it is? Do not faint. This is horse meat. Sardinia is very popular!

What about this? Donkey! Also extremely popular in Sardinia. Every now and then you see asinello in the menu. For me, this was the first time I tasted this creature.

Dessert
Sardinian desserts are widely known throughout Italy and (like Sicilian) are extremely sweet.

I was not able to eat more than one such dessert.

This is a typical Sardinian dessert called sebadas. There is cheese inside and it’s all poured with honey. I was not very impressed.

And I’ll end this report with a drink that we tried on the advice of the bartender in the most hipster bar in the old town of Cagliari, Libarium Nostrum.