When in Sardinia, Eat as the Sardinians...and with them!

Last night I went out to dinner with some of my father’s friends, who took me to a restaurant in Quartu Sant’Elena, just outside of Cagliari, called Pane e Casu Quartu (‘Quartu Bread and Cheese’), which is run by an exquisite Sardinian culinary expert, Efisio Mameli (photo bottom left).

Sardinian cuisine is atypical of many islands due to a long history of invasions, which forced the local populations to dwell inland rather than on the coast. Instead of a fish-based cuisine, therefore, the typical cuisine of Sardinia is pastoral, including animals like—yes!—the donkey!

Last night’s feast was kicked off royally with the queen of Sardinian reds—the dry, full-body Monica wine—which was accompanied by various sorts of creamy pecorino cheeses served on Sardinian shepherd’s bread—pan carasau (literally, ‘bread cooked to crispiness’). Dating back to the Nuraghic people of the 2nd millennium BC, pan carasau is also known today as carta da musica (‘music paper’).

After a trio of appetizers consisting of sautéed eggplant, chickpeas, and fava beans, two pasta dishes were presented in loving abbondanza: Culurgionis—thick shells made of semolina, filled with a creamy pecorino cheese, and flavored with saffron; and Pasta de busa—made by wrapping the pasta around knitting needles and served in a sauce of ground wild boar meat seasoned with mint.

The second course consisted of two meat dishes. First, we savored some porceddu, which is milk-fed suckling pig roasted on a spit and served on a bed of myrtle. Then came the ass—thin flanks of donkey meat grilled to tender perfection.

We concluded the banquet with a plate of seadas, deep fried ravioli-like pastries that are filled with a creamy pecorino cheese and drizzled with bitter honey.

Of course, we couldn’t leave without a few shots of Fil’e ferru, a type of Sardinian grappa or “white lightening,” followed by another shot of Mirto—liquor made from red myrtle berries.

We all concluded that the best way to digest all these tasty delights was to take a long night walk along Poetto, Cagliari’s main beach!

Photos Copyright Men’ Fashion by Francesco.