To me the real joy of travelling is the experiences that we have along the way, the people we meet who change our lives, who open their homes, hearts and kitchens and the lands upon which we find ourselves standing mouths open in wonderment and breathing in the sheer pleasure of being in a place that gives you a certain peace in heart and soul. My 10 days in Sardinia, now a beautiful memory will be somewhere that I will return. Having left with new found friends, a belly full of real earth giving foods and an experience of being in a land as beautifully stylish in fashion as it is in its simplicity in the lifestyle, the cooking and the ruggered coast line that surrounds this island of life.
Arriving on the island well outside of holiday season was to me a blessing, although many of the coastal restaurants, hotels and bars were closed with shutters drawn, signs over turned and in certain towns there was an erie but comforting feeling of desertion. Unlike the peak season of July to September when you can barely move, drive or find a spot of sand to sit under the beating sun, I was fortunate to have the sun still shining on my face as I sat sipping campari on ice by the waters edge, the smell of the ocean in my lungs, its waves crashing on jagged rocks calling out to the sands is something that I am continually mesmerised by.
I stayed in a simple very modest farm house with 8 cats waiting to be fed every morning, pomegranates, mandarins, oranges and rosemary growing in the wild abandoned garden, and a tiny kitchen where I most enjoyed some of the simplest of dishes. Cheese as I mentioned in my last blog is one of Sardinia's precious gems along with its bottarga, sausages and meats and of course its breads, fresh fruits and wild vegetables. Studded with olive trees, citrus, artichokes, the mountains of Sardinia provide the succulent maglionino - baby wild pig, rabbits, lambs and its beef, although its seafood, fish, crustaceans and the deliciously creamy sea urchin or ricci is a dish not to be missed.
Olives are brined in salted water for 10 days, changed every other day and then left to brine in a mixture of salt, water, wild 
fennel and bay leaves. Others are left to sit in salt overnight then baked in a very slow oven for 4-5 hours to then be marinated in some of the most divine olive oils I have tasted. Pasta is tossed with garlic, olive oil, parsley, tomato passata and bottarga then finished with some of the delicate sea urchin, tossed together at just the last minute, for an even creamer pasta you omit the passata and the bottarga and the hot pasta infused with the garlic and parsley is delicately stirred with the salty flesh creating a creamy almost buttery texture. Heavier pastas are tossed with a sugo of diced beef, pork sausages, lardo, fresh salami and home made tomato sauce simmered for almost an hour with rosemary, fresh bay leaves and the quintessential onion, garlic, celery and carrot. Chunks of smoked fresh ricotta is spread onto crusty bread or their traditional carte di musica a wafer thin crispy flat bread delicious as is, or dredged through olive oil dressings, sauces and the like. Mussels, clams dance through hot spaghetti tossed with white wine, prawns, calamari and octopus are cooked and chilled to then be thrown into a explosion of flavour with lashings of olive oil, lemon juice and the flavours of the sea in simple seafood salads. Artichokes are eaten raw marinated with olive oil and lemon and covered with shaved Parmesan, or fried with garlic, parsley and oil and eaten as a side dish or light lunch. Wine red or white substitutes water and is as light or heavy as you like, straight from the vats came this divinely subtle drop with a slight sweetness fruity, fragrant and accompanied every meal. Finishing the days feast was always fresh fruit and a digestive of either Mirto the traditional drop of Sardinia made either from the berry itself producing a rather dark slightly bitter sweet flavour or from the flower and the leaves a light, sweeter style of digestive more preferred by the ladies. There is also the traditional home made grappas, fennel, lemon and other wonderfully concocted liqueurs aging in small jars and presented to guests and alike to try after the meal. The desserts are simple with an almost basic pastry being used for quite a few of the more traditional pasticceria and filled with saffron and orange scented ricotta, sultana and wine paste and crushed almonds mixed with lemon, sugar and egg whites. fennel, almonds, chocolate and dried fruits are also popular with many of the desserts.
Having only conquered a small part of the island and with my eye on a couple of those gorgeous beaches and in particular a century old tuna festival in June I am certain to return to this beautifully ruggered and breathtaking place.