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  An itinerary which seeks to discover the excellent products of the Barbagia and the Mandrolisai could justifiably begin in Orgosolo, a town which symbolises the real and true “barbaricina” culture. In this area Canonau (or Cannonau) D.O.C is produced, without doubt the prince of the province of Nuoro’s wines and one of the most famous, appreciated and characteristic of Sardinian wines.
Produced from the vine of the same name, introduced into Sardinia by the Spanish, it has a ruby red colour and an intense floral bouquet that recalls red fruit, mature plums and aromatic wood. It is a warm, full-bodied wine, whose characteristics are exalted when accompanied with the excellent roast meats and strong cheeses that can also be tasted in rustic environments: the “pinnettos”, ancient sheep-folds constructed with rocks with conical roofs made from branches, which are used by the shepherds in the surrounding mountains.
Our route through the Barbagia di Ollolai goes on to Mamoiada. In this town, at any time of year you can relish excellent food and the good local Canonau wines of the area, also on some special occasions throughout the year, particular dishes are prepared in accordance with the celebration of local feast days. One of these is that of Sant’Antonio Abate, on January 17th, which signals the official beginning of Carnival with the first parade of the Mamuthones, the town’s typical masks. |
In the towns’ streets huge bonfires are lit in celebration of the saint who, according to tradition, had stolen fire from the devil; around the fires the typical foods of the festival are offered, for example “fave è lardu” (broad beans and lard), one of the Barbagia’s most characteristic dishes: a sort of broad bean soup cooked with pig fat and rind. This dish is much more appetising than a simple description can do it justice.
The excellent pastries prepared by the women for the occasion also deserve to be mentioned: “su papassinu biancu”, prepared with almonds, “su papassinu nigheddu”, with “sa sappa” (mulled wine), “su coccone ‘in mele”, with saffron and “sas caschettes”, with almonds, honey and saffron.
We continue our voyage of the discovery of culinary delights in Fonni.
The highest municipality in Sardinia, welcomes us with its cool fresh air that, after a visit to its beautiful historical centre and in particular to the extremely interesting chiesa dei Martiri, invites us to relish Su pistoccu, the sweetmeat which is symbolic of the town’s hospitality and Sardinian festivals in general. Similar to savoyard biscuits, light and delicate, this sweet is baked according to an ancient recipe that stipulates that sixty percent of its ingredients must consist of newly laid eggs.
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 After a visit to Mount Spada, where there are ski lifts and runs, we can leave Fonni and head towards Gavoi, a gracious town whose granite houses are rendered more quaint by cascades of multi-coloured geraniums.
The town’s most typical product is the high quality “Fiore Sardo”, one of the three guaranteed Sardinian DOP (denomination and origin protected) cheeses, together with “pecorino sardo” and “romano”. The cheese owes its rich, unique and unmistakable aroma to the perfumed herbs of the Mediterranean maquis that the sheep ruminate on in the wild. |
An ideal accompaniment to Fiore sardo cheese is another local product, “su cocone ‘e fozza”, a bread made from fine, hard grain bran and potato flour, baked in wood-fired ovens after being wrapped in a cabbage leaf, which gives it its particular flavour, both items being accompanied by the inevitable glass or two of Canonau.
If your head is spinning because you have drunk a glass too many of wine or you wish to digest your dinner properly, the nearby lake of Gusana is an ideal spot for a little relaxation.
Only a few kilometres separate Gavoi from the villages of Lodine and Ollolai, which are ideal places to taste another of Barbagia’s culinary delights, pane carasau. One of the main speciality of Sardinian gastronomy, is the traditional bread which is made to last a long time and sustain shepherds during their long absences from home. The dough only consists of durum wheat bran, flour, water, yeast and salt. Its recipe is apparently simple but its production requires great skill and long practice. Dipped in mutton broth or in salted water and dressed with tomato sauce and cheese, then finally completed with a poached egg, it makes an excellent dish which goes under the name of pane frattau.
The presence within the BIM Taloro’s territory of rich woodlands comprising chestnut, walnut, almond and hazelnut trees could not but leave their mark in local cusine. Among the most tasty we recommend you to try the “pastinas”, rhomboid-shaped sweetmeats made from pastry stuffed to the brim with a soft hazelnut filling and “Puzzoneddos”, sweetmeats which are typical of Ovodda, made from almonds and honey, shaped in the form of a bird. Certainly you could suffer a little from this diet, but its well worth the pain.
Continuing along the 128 state road that passes through some of the original woodland of Sardinia and by-passing Tiana, we arrive in Tonara, a must for all gluttons, as it has made the production of torrone (a type of nougàt) into a real art form.
In fact Tonara’s torrone is famous and appreciated throughout Sardinia and there isn’t a local town festival that takes place without the presence of numerous “Carratoneris” the town’s travelling salesmen. On Easter Monday, when the sagra (village feast) of torrone is held, this delicacy is prepared according to the ancient rules, namely using a fire made only from holly branches and mixing the ingredients of honey, egg whites |
and dried fruit in a copper cauldron stirring them manually with a wooden pole.
From Tonara, following a road as beautiful as it is tortuous, we arrive in Desulo, a town renowned for the ability of its craftsmen, for the colourfulness of its traditional costume which is still worn daily by many of its old women and for its fine wine: Mandrolisai D.O.C which carries the same name as the geographical region in which it is produced. The grape used in its production, the Bovale sardo, was probably introduced in Sardinia by the Aragons.
The wine has a ruby red colour, that tends to become more amber-like with age, it’s the ideal wine for soups, meat and strong cheeses.
We finish our trip of discovery of the tastes of traditional Central Sardinian food on a high note, with a taste of one of the region’s symbolic dishes: roast pork. Its cooking is a real ritual, normally carried out by men, the meat must be slowly cooked over embers, the animal being speared on a wooden spit. The meat is seasoned only with salt and flavoured with lard which is dripped onto the rind; cooked according to simple gestures that have become an expression of an age-old culture.
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