A real cook’s tour
Minestrone, maggots and myrtle... TV chef Michela Chiappa revels in Sardinia’s quirky cuisine
My life has been split between two nations. I was born in the Welsh Valleys and raised on a farm, but I’m Italian at heart. My parents brought me up speaking Italian at home and my Italian grandparents lived next door.
Every day and night, nonna cooked delicious, rustic dishes. But if you asked for a recipe, she’d shrug and say in true Italian style: ‘It’s just a bit of this and a bit of that.’ My grandfather came from a very poor background and worked the land. To him, polenta and salami are the foods of peasants, and he’s still surprised to see them on fancy restaurant menus.
For me, food is always a central element of travelling in Italy. I want to know that wherever the road takes me, I’m guaranteed to eat well. I remember my first trip to Sardinia – as a teenager I travelled to the island with three friends. We took an overnight ferry from Genoa and slept on the floor.
As the sun came up, we looked out to see the jagged coast of Sardinia and soon set off to find an amazing beach. Later, in a random backstreet café, we ate what tasted to us like the world’s best pizza.
I returned to Sardinia recently, but this time as a wife and mother. However, there had to be some work before play, so first I spent a week in Sardinia’s interior, shooting a TV documentary about Villagrande Strisaili and the Ogliastra region. This area is home to one of the world’s highest concentrations of centenarians.
Their longevity is the result of eating well and staying active; many of them used to be shepherds, trampling the rocky terrain. According to them, they never miss Mass on Sundays: the congregation is full of cheerful, white-haired Catholics who enjoy the slow pace of life, simple foods and none of the stresses of city life. In fact, Sardinians have a customary saying – ‘A chent’annos’ – which means ‘May you live to 100’.
I was surprised by their daily diet, which is not the typical Mediterranean version. Sure, they don’t have much sugar, but they do enjoy plenty of lard, fat and carbohydrates. Plates were piled high with prosciutto and pecorino, a cheese made from ewe’s milk – and high in Omega3 – accompanied by sheets of pane carasau, Sardinia’s crispy bread. The island also has exceptional olive oils, including Accademia Olearia, produced by the Fois family who have 25,000 olive trees.
Villagers’ cottages were filled with the comforting scent of simmering minestrone broth, made with fava beans, chickpeas and potatoes. It was a substantial meal in itself – with a chunk of sourdough bread, it’s certainly enough to keep you going… perhaps to your 100th birthday. They also enjoy a glass of the popular red wine Cannonau, which is renowned for its antioxidant qualities. It is said to be two or three times more effective as an artery-cleanser than other reds across the world.
The filming schedule was intense, so afterwards I was relieved to head to Gallura, on the northeastern tip of Sardinia, to check into a hotel with my husband Dan, my threemonth old daughter Serafina, and her sister, Fiamma, two.
We were staying at the Resort Valle dell’Erica Thalasso & Spa, near the village of Santa Teresa Gallura. The village looks out over the Strait of Bonifacio, which separates Sardinia and Corsica, and is close to the islands that form La Maddalena archipelago. The fivestar resort is gorgeous – the perfect family destination. There are a number of bays with white-sand beaches and crystal-clear waters, and views across to the uninhabited island of Spargi. At one bay a lifeguard brought bread every day so the children could feed the fish which swam at their feet.
The resort has four pools, a glorious spa, a golf course, and a fantastic children’s club where Fiamma tried crafts, baking biscuits and dancing. She was also keen to join in the Robinson Crusoe evening which takes older children on a canoe adventure, camping out overnight in a private bay… but alas she was too young.
Children are made to feel welcome at the table. There are five restaurants at the resort, including an amazing cantina that serves children’s meals. And there is a kitchen full of equipment for newborns, in addition to pastas, broths and a selection of home-made purees prepared daily. Fiamma became well known at the ice-cream and crepe stations. Another restaurant, Le Bouche, offers buffet-style fine dining – the food was exquisite. One morning I had great fun taking part in a cookery class with the resort’s chefs, making traditional local dishes. Zuppa gallurese is an eternally comforting dish made from layers of bread and cheese, and a touch of fennel, baked in beef or lamb broth – it’s somewhere between lasagne and a casserole. And seadas are fritters with a gooey filling of pecorino and honey – a traditional sweet-and-sour treat at Sardinian festivals, where you might also see a whole suckling pig grilled.
Pig is cooked on the open fire at Sa Mandra, a family-run restaurant in a farmhouse close to the medieval city of Alghero. The restaurant’s garden is full of myrtle, the bush’s berries are picked and transformed into mirto, a dark, herby digestif which is drunk in abundance. Other Sardinian delicacies include a cheese called casu marzu – but if you’re squeamish, read no further. It contains wriggling maggots.
Close to the port in Alghero is Bar Focacceria Milese, where crowds gather for the focaccia del milese, which is about 3ft long and topped with tuna, anchovies, rocket and tomato. Meanwhile in the town of Bosa, Verde Fiume – it translates as green river – serves superb fish and shellfish dishes, including crab linguine.
Buon appetito!