My Sardinia

The people of Sardinia were driven from their homes near the shores due to the constant attacks it has experienced from hostile countries. As a result, Sardinians were forced to adjust their lifestyles while hiding behind the mountains of the island. Instead of becoming fishermen, most of them adapted to pursue a land-based livelihood to accommodate their need for survival. One of their more popular pursuits is being a shepherd, with the responsibility of wandering with their herds.

Shepherds in Sardinia spent most of their time away from home and into the vast wilderness of the island. Almost all were forced to live off with the most basic utensils in order to prepare their regular serving of sausage, cheese, and bread, since they were obviously unable to bring skillets and pans to cook their food with the purpose of lightening the load of their baggage. However, shepherds with enough ingenuity are able to thrive in the primitiveness of the outdoors by cooking their meat over aromatic wood fire topped with fresh herbs plucked from nearby plants on the mountainside. Although the method may appear simple in theory, their way of cooking has become an integral part in Sardinian cuisine.

Most of the meat dishes served in the island – veal, pork, lamb – are either barbecued or roasted. In fact, a roasted sucking pig has become a staple in every village festival held at Sardinia. Another popular dish, the carraxin, is an extravagant specialty in Nuoro province. It is basically a meat stuffed inside another meat in this particular order: small bird, partridge, sucking pig, whole kid, and a male calf. The dish is made much more significant when the village cobbler pierces a calf with a needle to close up and keep the meat intact.

There are a lot of other meat dishes served up in Sardinia and they owe it all to the shepherds who have revolutionized their way of cooking.