Welcome back to our Sardinian food series. Today we’re talking about "carta da musica", better known as "pane carasau" in the Sardinian language. Pane carasau actually has nothing to do with music, it literally means “toasted bread” as it is cooked twice, but we like to call it music bread because of the unique crackly noise it makes when it’s broken or eaten. When the bread is put back into the oven for the second time, a large part of the water is eliminated and no crumb is formed, creating a dry and crunchy product. This process gives it a unique, light, crunchiness while the semolina flour used in the recipe makes the bread nuttier and sweeter. This makes pane carasau very addictive and easy to eat, especially when drizzled with olive oil.
This ancient bread is deeply connected to Sardinian traditions of shepherding. Because it lasts a long time, the shepherd’s wives would prepare it for their husbands to eat while working long days in the fields. Thanks to its wide round shape and crispy consistency, they used it - literally - as a dish, gradually eating it together with the other ingredients, especially cured meat and cheeses. The love and care to make this bread was enormous and it’s one of the oldest types of bread in the world. Even today you’ll find pane carasau on the table at almost every meal and it’s definitely one of our favourites foods.
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This is Sardinian focaccia, better known as su mustazzeddu or pani cun tammatiga (in Sardinia language).
It is a type of focaccia made with semolina flour instead of just white flour, which gives it a very crispy, golden crust - like a sort of cross-over between a focaccia and a pizza. Unlike other focaccia, it’s served stuffed with a delicious, soft filling of sweet tomatoes, basil and garlic, and even aubergine in some parts of Sardinia. It is said that it was the Sardinian nuns who invented it during periods of poverty so that they could bring a whole meal to the poor instead of just simple bread. Culurgiones are one of the most famous signature dishes from Sardinia and they are easily recognisable by their characteristic shape that looks like a wheat ear (spiga or spighitta in Sardinian language). The biggest difficulty people face when making this type of stuffed pasta is the closure of the pastry, which is what gives the culurgiones their distinctive appearance.
This pasta shape itself represents the link between the agropastoral tradition of the wheat as a raw material for the production of fresh pasta and the skilful dexterity of Sardinian women. This type of ravioli are recognised by pasta makers from all over the world as one of the hardest pasta shapes to make. Culurgiones can now be found all over Sardinia but they originate from Ogliastra, a town in the central-eastern part of Sardinia. This is still one of our all time favourite pastas. Garlic, olive oil and chilli spaghetti - it sounds simple but it tastes amazing. As this is such a simple pasta to make, you need to make sure you have good quality ingredients such as a good quality olive oil and good quality spaghetti. You also need to make sure you follow the cooking method closely to get the best flavour out of this simple but yet incredibly delicious pasta!
We love the smell of these rolls when they're fresh out from the oven. Light and airy inside with a super soft crumb and a thin crust, with the flavour of the baked flour. It is usually served with olive oil and balsamic at the very start of the meal but also perfect for a quick lunch, served with different types of cured meat, cheese, roasted vegetables, some greens and olive oil.
Beautiful charred cauliflower florets paired with a sausage sauce, this recipe is perfect even for cauliflower haters! Cauliflower is available all year round and is an extremely healthy vegetable that contains many nutrients. It's high in fibre, a good source of antioxidants and easy to introduce into your diet.
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