The Sardinian Art Of Pastry
Confectioneries and festivals seem to go together in Sardinia. The creation of these specialties marks a special occasion in which these delicately prepared sweets become part of the celebration. Needless to say, the island’s festival calendar is an endless source of inspiration for the local confectioners.
The most famous perhaps is the gatto. Prepared every year during the festival that honors a town’s local saint, it is basically a nougat made with sugar and almonds, and sometimes orange peel. What makes the gatto special is that it is painstakingly made to resemble in cake form the town church or religious structure in a miniature replica. During the celebrations, the gatto made especially for the occasion is made the centerpiece.
Other special occasions also provide the reason for local cooks to come up with sweets. An example is the saffron-yellow zipulas, basically deep-fried potato and bread dough sprinkled with sugar.
For Easter, family tables are adorned with cakes both grand and humble. Most common are the pardulas which are quark or ricotta tartlets made of semolina, lard, eggs, and sugar. These can be found everywhere in Sardinia and it does not have to be Easter to enjoy them. All Saints Day brings more colorful confections, and for Christmas and New Year, every part of Sardinia has his own take on festival sweets.
Almonds figure prominently in Sardinian sweets, so expect lots of these in the specialties.
