hathor

Doing the research on Sardegna, I felt as though I was trying to hold jello in my hands, each time I thought I had a grasp on the culture or the food or the geography, it would slip through my hands. It feels as though researching this island could take a very long and enjoyable time. First off, Sardinia is really, really old. There are human remains dating back to 150,000 BC. Obviously there is a long history here with influences from all over the Mediterranean and in particular from Spain. Medieval Sardinia did not participate in Mediterranean trade. There is an old saying: “furat chie benit dae su mare” or “those who come from the sea are here to steal”. The farmers relied on traditional farming techniques, including the burning of the fields instead of letting them lie fallow. Bartering was used instead of currency. The only two grains mentioned in early documents are hard wheat (grano duro) and barley. However, there is extensive use of all types of beans. In the southern city of Sa’rrabus, a festival bread made of acorns and clay was made. The city of Cagliari was the most exposed to Western civilization as it became an exporter of cheeses. The local language, Sardo, is an officially recognized language and would be a superb language for playing Scrabble: porceddu, carraxiu…we are talking big bonus points here! The complex Latin derived language also reflects the influences of Arabic, Phoenician, Pisan, Catalan and Ligurian languages. It’s the leading producer of organic producing in Italy, with fully one third of the cultivated land being dedicated to organic farming. Its an island, surrounded by rich and diverse sea life, but historically, the cuisine is land based. It was a very poor island until in recent times when tourism started to develop in the 1960’s, now Costa Smerelda is one of the chicest and most expensive resort areas in the world. Cagliari is the capital city, and the island is comprised of 8 provinces, it is ranked 3rd in size for landmass, and 12th (or 11th, depending on your source) for population. Discovering Sardinian cuisine is more akin to discovering a separate country’s cooking, than just a ‘region’ of Italy, as their relative isolation from the European mainland led to very unique dishes. Let’s break this down into some broad categories. Bread Disregarding that dreadful sounding acorn and clay bread mentioned before, Sardinia has developed a fantastic and varied bread culture. Prior to the development of commercial granaries, wheat was ground at home with small stone grinders. Bread was normally baked in the evening, with very little yeast. The advantage of this bread, known as pane carasau and carta da musica, was that it was good to eat for many days, rather than needing to be baked every day. These days, the bread from Sardinia varies tremendously from town to town and from holiday to holiday. The area of Barbagia, in inner Sardinia, is famous for ‘pane frattau’ which is made from the flat carasau bread. It is cooked with broth and tomato sauce and then topped with a poached egg and grated pecorino. Fruits & Vegetables There is abundant use of tomatoes, artichokes, fava beans, peas, eggplant, zucchini, cabbage and cauliflower. Gallura, a region in the northern part of the island, is famous for its mushrooms: ovule, porcini and the rare ’dittula’ mushroom. Locally grown fruits include figs, pears, apples, cherries, prunes, pomegranates, oranges and mandarins. Chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds are grown here. Is this sounding like the garden of Eden or what? Pasta Traditionally there is a frequent use of dried pastas, which are served with meat sauces or any of a variety of fresh sauces. Pasta ‘a ferrittus” or ‘de busa” is another variation on the thin strip of pasta wound around a piece of metal or wheat, forming a spiral. “Malloreddus” are the little gnocchi that we’ve already begun making, and which come from the Logudoro region. Traditionally this pasta is made using semolina and is flavored with saffron. Ciciones are a similar type of gnocchi which come from the Sassari region. Culingiones are a type of ravioli made with a pecorino and chard filling. There is also a sweet version made with almonds. Meat Sardinia is a shepherd culture, dominated by sheep and lamb. This is followed in popularity by pork, particularly the young suckling female, and by goat. The interior of the island is home to a variety of game: hare, quail, rabbit, lepre, and wild boar. A common way of cooking is by spit roasting the whole animal. “Porceddu” is spit roasted suckling pig. Another traditional method of cooking meats is pit roasting or “incarralzadu”. In this method, after the pit is dug, it is lined with myrtle leaves, the animal is placed in the pit and then covered with more myrtle branches. Finally a fire is lit on top and the animal is slow roasted. One description of this cooking method also describes what goes on while the animal cooks: “around which chants and dances accompany the drinking until the pig is cooked.” Some things just never change, sounds like a modern barbecue to me. “Zurrette” is a curious dish from the Bargaia region. It’s a sheep blood pudding, where the blood is flavored with herbs and cheese, put into the sheep stomach, sealed and then either steamed or roasted until the blood becomes a semi-solid ‘pudding’. Sort of sounding like haggis to me….. A Ligurian influence is felt in the popularity of ‘panadas’ or meat pies. Fish The popularity of fish is a relatively recent development, although the southern port town of Cagliari boasts the largest fish market in Italy. The description of the varieties of fish to be found at this market sound incredible! Clearly we need to do some on-site investigating! Burrida, the Ligurian fish soup, is showing up here, but it is primarily made with dog fish (shark). Bottarga, made from tuna and mullet is popular, served in thin shavings on top of pasta with parsely. Here is an interesting description for “lattme” or “lattante” from the Porto Torres and Sassari region: “briefly boiled, then breaded and fried reproductive organs of tuna. What do they mean? Reproductive organs from boy tunas or girl tunas?? Sassari is also famous for its small snails which are served in a spicy tomato sauce, pan roasted, or with garlic and parsley (escargot anyone?). Sweets Most pastries seem to have either honey and/or almonds as an ingredient. There is a very varied and well developed pastry culture in Sardinia. One famous sweet is ‘sospiri’ which are small balls of almond dough with almonds embedded in them. There is abundant information on sweets from Sardinia, so I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ll are going to be making. I’m seriously deficient in the sweet tooth department….sorry. Cheese The most famous cheese is the pecorino sheep cheese, which comes in every possible variety, from 3 day old to the sharp, aged variety. Honestly, this category needs to be more fully explored. So, if anyone has some good cheese info, please step right on up! There is lots of good wine in Sardinia and I’m sure Brad will have plenty of good info to share. I did come across one great description of the desert wine, Malvasia: it is the best wine for meditation and conversation. Who knew?? And this month, there is absolutely no question that we will ‘mange bene’.

I found this technique yesterday when I wanted to dispatch 5 of the beasties with as little angst as possible. Chill in the freezer for about 15 minutes, but do NOT freeze them. Obviously size will determine how long to chill them, but you are looking to slow down their reflexes, nervous system etc. Then, lay the lobster on its back. Take a large, sharp knife and quickly, forcefully insert the tip of the knife at the point where the tail joints the body, then make a quick clean sharp cut thru the body. The lobster just goes limp and then you can cook them as you want. The lobster has a decentralized nervous system so there will be some residual 'twitching'. Sounds kind of gruesome, but actually, its pretty quick and seems more humane than being boiled to death.

Liguria was indeed fun. I experimented with lots of green salsas and found all kinds of places to add a few anchovies. All in all, a good month for developing some interesting flavor combinations. Kevin, I really like the look of that asparagus sauce...sometimes garlic can give off a bitter note as well.

Wait, I thought you were supposed to leave the lid open? Start it with the lid open, then when it starts burbling out, close it and lower the heat. ← Kevin....keep the lid closed. As soon as you hear some perc type noises, lower the heat. Avoids the steamed finger problem as well as the espresso colored ceilings.

JohnL, not complaining, but discussing the aspect of chefs producing virtually the same food in different locations. To follow your argument through: then why bother travelling at at all? To my mind, being somewhere and eating locally immensely improves the dining experience. I would want French Laundry to be cooking with what is fresh and available in California, and PerSe to be reaping the benefits of what is seasonal in the NY area. It all goes back to the basic Howard Johnson theory of finding comfort in knowing that wherever you visit, it will all be the same. I like a bit more adventure in my life.

Ideas in Food is brilliant. By far, my favorite.

The original link to the article has expired. But, if its about the lobster condos: when I went to the WF on Union Sq, I was amazed by the condos and asked the friendly fishmonger, " Who puts them in the little tubes??" He explained that they dump the lobsters into the tank, and the lobsters actually crawl into the tubes themselves. Apparently they like to be alone. Who knew? But, I'm with Docsconz on this one, if the animal is less stressed, it will taste better. I've even been told to 'hypnotize' the lobster by putting it in a headstand position for a few minutes, as this will calm it. Or to put them into a cold water pot and then bring up to a boil as this is less stress inducing.

Sort of blows the whole concept of 'terroire' right out of the water doesn't it? I can't think of any more depressing and self-defeating concept than being proud that a dish tastes the same where ever it is prepared. To me, it only increases the value of the small, local restaurant that honors its local ingredients.

Almost makes you want to crack a pot and see how it works! I said...almost!!

Beautiful meals everyone!! Gorgeous pastas, filled and stamped. Beautiful prawns....really sorry they didn't live up to your expectations. The fish at the market looked really cripity-crapity, so no burrida for me this weekend. Used up the rest of the baccala by making brandade (French, I know, I know), but served along with a Ligurian inspired tapenade: olives, anchovies, capers, parsely, olive oil. This my friends, would be excellent on anything! even Cheerios! Also very interesting discussion about when does something become traditional and regional. That is a topic to be discussed around a table with a lot of wine!

Excellent info Smithy!! Thanks!! p.s. low fat or skim milk??

Thanks Paula. At first I thought wading thru 12 pages would be a chore, but the wealth of information in this thread is amazing. I just want to be sure I'm correct in my thinking that if a crack occurs in an old faithful earthenware pot, that a good soaking, olive-oiling, and low bake temp will somewhat seal the crack? I've only had this occur on some of my older Italian pots, but its heartbreaking when a trusted pot starts to crack! Thanks again.

Good question Kevin. My first thought was that I bet the tradition hinged on the sugar....when sugar became readily available. But honey would do the same trick as sugar, so its has to be a very, very ancient tradition, not any more specific to a region than wine producing. (Whereas refined sugar played a huge role in the development of pastry as we know it.)

Geez!! Why do you think I was asking??

How do you cure a crack? (that sounds like a bizzare question... )

What is junipero?

Kevin, I'm a forgetful dunce...where are we 'going' in June? Sardinia, right??

Elie, that vegetable tarte looks just beautiful, and I' m betting the left over taste even better today. You do have a way with dough! Fish soup...mmmm....god, I love fish soups....! Looks like that's on this weekend's menu.

Yes, I am doing a mock piano player thing on it. Instead of dimples I was getting mini volcanos or inside out dimples when I pulled my fingers out so came the dough. Maybe I should oil my fingers first? The baccala looks amazing, I have not enjoyed it so much in the past but its one of my wife's favorites. I think we will try again, this time fried! How long did you soak/change the water? For the focaccia, try putting a coating of oil on top of the batter/dough. Also keeps things a bit moist. Also, try listening to reggae while 'dimpling'. I find it very....inspiring! The baccala was soaked for about 24 hours with maybe 5 changes of water. I'd rather get most of the salt out, and then put back the amount of salt I want. Taste it as you go and you can tell if enough of the salt is out. OH. and no one is buying the "I'm clueless. Go and vote twice routine." Your meals look like they are far from clueless!! edit: I screwed up the quote thing, but I think you get the gist of it....

When I was 12 or so, and my Mom was working and left me to start dinner....I would deliberately not pierce one or two of the sausages so they would explode.

Ohhh...that is food porn my friend. I wonder how quickly I can get to Rhodes....!

Kevin, I think it was a cardoon aversion I had! Not baccala.... I love baccala. Or maybe it was something else... lot of food has been cooked in the past years! Pontormo: I wouldn't grill baccala. I could be wrong about that, but I don't think it lends itself to grilling. Small fried bits would be a nice antipasto though.... As far as the tongue numb, tingling thing with marjoram, I don't know anyone else who has had this reaction. All in all, I think its an 'odd' herb that needs special handling.

Over on the Cooking and Cuisine of Liguria thread, baccala shows up as a regular ingredient. Last night was supposed to be a straight up Ligurian type recipe with fried baccala and a salsa verde, but Divinia's suggestion made me hungry for a livornese sauce. All in all, an excellent meal, with the rich baccala being a good foil for the sharpness of the sauce.

Athineos, I take it that you eat those little shrimp, shells and all? They look marvelous.

Last night was baccala` night. Plan A was to simply fry some baccala chunks and serve them with a parsley based salsa verde. Then I read Divinia's suggestion on the baccala` thread. So it was simple Ligurian baccala meets Livornese salsa over fusili. Here's the baccala in the pan: And here it is resting on the fusili: The rich, fattiness of the baccala was a beautiful counterpoint to the sharp flavors of the livornese sauce. Maybe today we have the salsa verde con prezzemolo....