The Christmas holidays in Sardinia have a special aroma…
Christmas Day sees a lavish dinner prepared in every household, featuring the island’s most typical dishes, with different specialities in every region.
Diners are treated on this occasion to a unique and magical experience, created by the amazing colours and aromas of the region’s food and wine.
In Sardinia, tradition is a value that is
truly experienced and preserved in many areas, and this is particularly true of its food and wine.
Among appetisers, pride of place is given to the best cured meats and prosciutto, alongside olives and vegetables like mushrooms and cardoons in oil or stewed, a gift from the country.
First courses are a carousel of typical pasta dishes that vary according to region: culurgiones, malloreddus, macarrones. Sardinia is also famed for its traditional, hearty soups: zichi bread soup, typical of the area of Bonorva, and the soup known as suppa cuatta, made with stale bread soaked in lamb broth.
A typical and original dish is fregola, small grains of handmade semolina served in a fish broth, with clams and tomato, or served with mushrooms and our very own spices!
Main courses make a beautiful display on Sardinia’s Christmas tables, with the added bonus of their intense aromas: roast meat and fish, together with meat stewed with vegetables, slow cooked to make them soft and delicious.
These are complemented by treats from gardens and the country, such as radishes, celery and fennel, an inevitable component of these dishes on the island.
Lamb in particular, but also kid, can also be savoured in the numerous dishes prepared in the oven or in stew pots, or come stuffed alongside vegetable specialities such as cardoons, artichokes and potatoes.
Another cornerstone of the festive table is cheese: the type may vary, but they are always packed with flavour, and pecorino in particular is served in its different stages of ageing.
Bread is ever present, and almost takes on a leading role; in Sardinia, it is not only a food, but a typical part of various celebrations and holidays.
Bread in Sardinia takes on numerous forms, one for every region of the island thanks to the variety of techniques used to make the dough and the various leavening methods.
The most famous is pane carasau (or sheet music), a flatbread formed by two thin