Cook like a local: Corsica

Nicolas Stromboni reveals the island’s culinary highlights, including local charcuterie, simply cooked fish and ricotta-like ewe’s cheeses

Corsica possesses a gastronomic heritage as rich as that of mainland France but with a heavy Italian influence, largely thanks to its closest neighbour, Sardinia. Made up of mountains, a plain and a succession of partitioned valleys, half a century ago Corsica was largely an agricultural society. Islanders talked about it in terms of valleys, or communes – closed, almost self-sufficient spaces that owed their autonomy to the island’s distinctive topography. Today, however, Corsica is just as modern as any other Mediterranean island, with a thriving restaurant scene, a robust wine industry and a booming tourist industry, especially in its capital Ajaccio.

Native olives, chestnuts, citrus, grapes and wines are well worth seeking out. And any Corsican will tell you that they love charcuterie – especially that made from the Corsican pig. The figatellu (or figateddu) sausage is a muchloved speciality. Fresher ones are grilled, while aged sausages are stewed with lentils or white beans. You’ll also find coppa (loin), lonzu (similar to bacon), vuletta (cheek) and pancetta, which is much less creamy than its Italian cousin.

Of course, Corsica is also surrounded by the Med, so seafood is in abundance. Sea urchins, oysters, mussels, mackerel, prawns and octopus cooked simply with native herbs (like wild caraway thyme) or left raw with minimal fuss, are widely appreciated. Goat and sheep cheeses are other local delicacies, the most prized being brocciu – a fresh ewe’s milk and whey cheese that alone is worth the flight to Corsica. As with so much of Corsica’s produce, you cannot help but taste the mountains, the rich soil and the sea air in everything you’re eating and drinking. »