Things you HAVE TO try while staying In Sardinia – Part 1. Spirits

Italian cousine is not only pizza and pasta. Every region of Italy has many traditional dish and products, that every traveler should try. Sardinia is not an exception!


Our trip around Sardinia and its savours we start from the spirits.  As you can see, we have listed alcohols that you really should try while travelling or at least take with you as a souvenir.

1) Mirto
Mirto is a very original and very Sardinian in taste sweet liqueur.
It is obtained from the myrtle plant, which grows freely in Sardinia, through the alcoholic maceration of the berries. There are two varieties of mirto: mirto rosso – made with the berries, sweet in taste, and mirto bianco– made from the leaves. We recommend you trying this liqueur cool, with an ice cube…and drink till the last drop. This liqueur  is very unique in taste and because of that you will love it or hate it. Regardless of the reaction, try it. It can be the only occasion that you will have to taste the savour of the island…

The price of mirto depends on the producer, size of the bottle etc.
Where to buy?
While staying on holidays in Sardinia don’t forget to visit the nearest grocery shop where you can find a wide selection of different spirits. Price of mirto: around 10€  per bottle. You can also buy a mirto during different local festivals or picnics (we were writing about them in the post called “What is sagra?), but the price there is going to be much higher.

2) Vermentino, delicate typical white wine
The most popular is Vermentino di Gallura produced in the north part of the island, wchich you can enjoy during the dinner or take with you back home as a souvenir. It costs around 2 € per bottle (in the small shops with local foods you can often find occasion and buy 3 bottles in price of one!).
3) Cannonau di Sardegna  is a red wine, made from Cannonau, the local name for the Grenache grape. It is not very popular outside of Italy, but recently it has been located in the rarating:  “The World’s Best Wine Under $25“. 

And last but not least:

4) Ichnusa –  a popular Sardinian-made beer.

There are few things that you shouldn’t comment while staying in Sardinia – one is Sardinian beer. Don’t try to criticize it as inhabitants are really attached to this beer.  Birra Ichnusa is a lager (4.7% ABV) with a hoppy taste, now owned by Heineken International. It is named after the Latinized ancient name Sardinia, Hyknusa. Try it and keep your thoughts for you.

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Above we have listed few spirits that, in our opinion, you should try while staying in Sardinia. In the next post we are going to talk about the local foods so… don’t miss it and follow us in here or in facebook and let’s meet in Sardinia!

Ciao!

Chjusoni – typical Sardinian pasta

Today we would like to tell you about one dish that you HAVE TO taste while staying in Sardinia: chjusoni!

malloreddus

What is it and how to eat?

Chjusoni, named also gnocchetti sardi, is a type of pasta and traditional sardinian dish at the same time. Their shape reminds a little shell. They are made from semolina and water only and served with different type of sauces. The most popular is pasta with sauce made from tomato sauce and a patridge.

Gnocchetti sardi are one of the most popular Sardinian dish, prepared for plenty of occasions including weddings and sagre (about which we have already wrote in -> “What is sagra?”) from long time ago.
While staying in Sardinia you can try them in every restaurant. You can also buy them in the local shops or make on your own. They are really easy to do! You need only few ingredients: semolina, acqua, a ;ittle bit of salt and around 1 hour of time. Fresh pasta is really so much better!

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If you would like to know how to prepare gnocchetti sardi join our cooking class! You will learn how to prepare the dough and the technique to create those beautiful shells at home.

How to get to Sardinia?

Sardinia, the second largest Italian island  in the Mediterranean sea, lies around 200 km (120miles) west of the mainland of Italy and only 12 km (7,5 miles) south of French island Corsica.

You can get there by plane or by the ferry boat. In this post we will talk about the most easy and fastest way – airplane.
The journey by plane is the most convenient one, however in this case you will need to rent a car to travel around the island.

The island of Sardinia has four international airports which operate to major cities in Europe:
1) Alghero- Fertilia Airport (AHO) in the north-west
2) Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (OLB) in the north-east
3) Cagliari Elmas Airport (CAG) in the south
4) Tortoli Airport (TTB) in the central east

Some of the airlines that have direct connections to Sardinia:
1) Meridiana Fly (https://www.meridiana.it/home/index/en/) operates to Olbia and Cagliari
2) Ryanair (https://www.ryanair.com/en/) operates to Alghero and Cagliari
3) Easy Jet (http://www.easyjet.com/en ) operates to Cagliari, Olbia and Alghero
4) Alitalia (http://www.alitalia.com/ )operates to Cagliari, Olbia and Alghero
5) AirBerlin (http://www.airberlin.com/ ) operates to Olbia and Cagliari
6) British Airways (http://www.britishairways.com/) Cagliari and Olbia – summer only
7) SmartWings (http://www.smartwings.com/en/) Cagliari and Olbia
*For flights and time tables check the links above

Note:

• From April to October there are more connections as the season starts at the end of March/beginning of April. Some Ryanair routes are available only at that time, f. ex. Cracow  (Poland) to Cagliari.
• High season in Sardinia starts in June and lasts untill September. If you plan your holidays during that period try to book the tickets in advance.

What is sagra?

What is sagra?
In a nutshell sagra is a local festival, celebration of the bounties of the earth, which is food. Generally those events have their origins in old traditions and are referring to local specialities. They are normally organized in small towns by the locals and this is what it makes so special.

Attending a sagra is a way to get a taste of Italian country life, authentic, enjoyable and  memorable experience!

Sagre in Italy are organized throughout the year, but the biggest number of them take part in the summer as nowadays they are a huge attraction for the tourists. Different town makes a different event what gives you an incredible opportunity to taste and see something new. What is more important, every Italian region is preparing their specialities. That is why this what you can taste in Sardinia you will not find anywhere else.

To give you an example here is what you can attend  in our beautiful island this year:
Sagra del Bovino (festival of beef which we attended last weekend, photos below)
Sagra del Porcettone arrosto (festival of roasted pig)
Sagra delle lumache (festival of snails- yes, you read correct:)
Sagra della Zuppa gallurese (festival of typical sardinian dish)
Sagra della Seadas (festival of typical sardinian sweets usually served with honey)
e t.c

Apart from the food, which is obviously the main attraction, during the sagra you are able to listen the music, watch the local dance groups and do the shopping. In the shopping area you can normally buy traditional sweets like torrone (highly recommended for all nuts and honey lovers), liqueurs (f. ex. mirto), trays, dishes, decorative coverings made from cork, botarga. Sagre last the whole weekend, each day is full of attraction, but the main events take part always in the evening.

As we mentioned above, sagre are organized in small towns and in most cases you will need a car to get there (especially if you are staying in touristic resorts in the Sardinian sea).

We can help you to organize your holidays. If you would like to attend sagra simply contact us. We will be more than happy to advice you where to go, as well as to take you for see the best festival. You have our guarantee for unforgettable memories!

Pizza time!

What comes to your mind when you think about Italy? Probably you are thinking about beautiful landscapes, culture, history and Italian cusine. Everything is correct! Today we will focus on a pizza, which is not a typical Sardinian dish, but worth paying attention while visiting Italy.

Pizza is one of the most popular dish at all times. Nowadays you can find it almost everywhere and in different variations but the best is the original one – pizza napolitana. Modern pizza was invented in Naples, in late 18^th or early 19^th century. A popular legend says that pizza was prepared in 1889 in honor of the visiting Queen Margherita. Out of a few different pizzas she preferred the one reminding Italian flag: with red tomatoes, green basil and white mozzarella. According to the mentioned legend this kind of pizza was named after the Queen with her name.

There are specific ingredients and techniques that must be used while making  a real pizza. All of them are listed and described in the official site of The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, which is a non-profit official governing association in Italy that maintains the standards and regulations of all Pizzaioli and Establshments serving Vera Napoletana Pizza. If you are interested, please go to their website where everything is explained.
In a nutshell apart from good quality inqredients and practice you need also a special wood oven, which is not an easy thing to obtain…

That is why we decided to organize a PIZZA MAKING CLASS to learn the secrets of making a true Neapolitan Pizza (Vera Napoletana).
If you would like to diversify your holidays and make a real pizza on your own while staying in Sardinia contact us. We can make it!

Few photos from our last class you can see below:

Welcome!

We are organizing one day tours in the north of Sardinia (from Alghero to Costa Smeralda).
If you are looking for a true sardinian experience, but you are tired of organizing everything by yourself, email us… and let’s meet in Sardinia!