Italian Cuisine: A Trip to the Island of Sardinia
By Ron Long
The island of Sardinia perhaps most quickly conjures
up the idea of sardines. A small island off of the western coast
of Italy, it certainly incorporates seafood in to much of its
regional cuisine. However, Sardinia has such a rich and various
history that it bears little resemblance to the traditional idea
of Italian cooking. Like many other Italian regional cuisines,
Sardinia’s regional taste is often a surprise for a palette that
is expecting red sauce and parmesan cheese to be the beginning
and end of traditional Italian cooking. While it is a region of
Italy, Sardinia’s history is shared with explorers of many European
nations, such as Greece, France, and Spain. This diverse history
of people shows in the traditions and culture of this isolated
island destination.
While, being an island, seafood, especially shellfish,
plays a large part in the regional cuisine of Sardinia, very few
Sardinian meals do not incorporate lamb, a rich resource in the
mountainous inland of the island of Sardinia. In addition to the
lamb’s meat, a favorite of Sardinian chefs, very few meals are
complete without the company of sheep’s milk and wild fennel.
Stews and roasts are popular choices for the people of Sardinia.
Looking at any Sardinian recipe, it is easy to see that the cuisine
of this hilly island is a veritable stone soup of the many different
cultures that have passed through the island over the years.
The seafood traditions of the Greek isles can be
found in the mussel stews and roasted lobster dishes that keep
the island’s fishermen busy. Malloreddus is a Sardinian pasta
that can be found in many stews and pasta dishes accompanying
chicken or rabbit basted in fennel or saffron. Malloreddus is
a grooved pasta that very much resembles gnocchi in taste and
texture, and is made of semolina flour and sometimes seasoned
lightly with saffron, while most gnocchi is made with potato.
Stews are very popular in the regional cuisine
of Sardinia, and even meat and poultry dishes are served in rich
cooking sauces that could just as easily be served as soups. For
this reason, accompanying a Sardinian entrée with a hearty crusted
bread or a side of potatoes makes for a very filling meal. Pasta,
in the traditional sense is not as large a part of Sardinian cooking
as in other regions of Italy. The pastas of Sardinia are more
commonly associated with Middle Eastern cuisine. Hearty grains
and fusilli more commonly accompany the dishes of Sardinian regional
cuisine, as opposed the lasagna, spaghetti or linguine that Americans
more commonly associate with Italian cooking.
Between the diverse history of Sardinia’s people,
from France to the Middle East, and the various different landscapes
and resources that can be found throughout the island, it is hard
to put Sardinian cuisine into one category. One thing is for sure
though, while you will find many different types of food on the
island of Sardinia, it is unlikely that you will find anything
like it anywhere else in the world.
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