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Welcome to Sardegna!
Sardegna is the second largest island in the Mediterranean. Unlike other Mediterranean islands though, these inhabitants live in the island's mountains and not on the coast, in part due to the past when hiding from invaders that landed on the coast and to avoid the marshy coast that created the plague of malaria. Therefore, Sardegna has two distinct cuisines: coastal and inland. The coastal cuisine was influenced by invaders, who brought their ways of preparing the bounty of seafood available, including lobsters, which are rare elsewhere in Italy.
Traditional Sardinian dishes are not seafood-based at all. Instead, they lean heavily on milk, cheese, roasted meat, and bread. Women typically cook the bread, while men cook meat (usually whole and often flavored with mint and myrtle) outdoors. Sardinians learned their pasta-making skills from the Genoese. But the style of pasta, made with hard-wheat semolina, is most similar to southern pasta. Sardinians add a pinch of saffron to dough to make the local specialty, malloreddus. The cheese in Sardegna - particularly sheep's milk is among the best in Italy, but it rarely leaves the island. Figs, almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts all grow well on the island and are the basis for many of the island's characteristically small, sweet pastries. The Sardinians are probably unique among the world's island dwellers because their traditional cuisine is not based on seafood. Despite the fish-rich waters which surround them, they developed a cuisine that largely, but not entirely, ignores the sea. The reason for this is that the Sardinians are really mountain people, rather than island people. Native Sardinians live in the rugged interior and have traditionally applied themselves as shepherds, farmers and hunters. The coastal areas have been left to a series of invaders, beginning with the Phoenicians, followed by the Carthaginians, the Greeks and Romans, the Genoese and Pisans, the Spanish and modern Italians and finally, in this century, an army of tourists seeking the luxury resorts of the Costa Smeralda. While coastal towns changed rulers, the natives were happy to stick to the interior, raising remarkable herds of pigs, goats and sheep and large crops of wheat. The results of their labors are a great tradition of roasted meats and game and some very interesting types of pasta. The favored method of roasting requires use of a whole animal. If you are roasting something as large as a pig or a goat, this will involve some big, often outdoor equipment or, as is the real preference on the island, digging a whole large enough to bury the beast with hot coals. The results are stupendous, but the effort is only worthwhile if you are planning to feed the entire village. information:
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