Strange Cheese and Other Unusual Sardinian Cuisine

For those who embark on holidays to Sardinia, it quickly becomes perfectly clear that the local way of life involves living off in tune with the land itself. Nowhere is it more obvious than in its wonderful cuisine.

Located in the Mediterranean Sea, this unique Italian island has kept its traditions throughout the centuries, with people living in villages, running small farms in the mountains and herding animals in the valleys, or going out in fishing boats along the coastline. With its rough, semi-barren terrain, making the most of what is available from the land and sea has resulted in a fascinating and unusual cuisine.

Here are some of the strange yet delicious dishes you may encounter - make sure you try at least a few.

Strange Seafood, Raw and Cooked

Holidays to Sardinia anywhere along its wonderful coastline will educate you in seafood – and likely kinds you’ve never tried before. Raw seafood may not be all that unusual to those for whom sushi is everyday food, but it is guaranteed that the sushi staples are definitely different from the food on this Mediterranean island.

Raw octopus, crab and sea urchin. One of the most amazing experiences you can have on the island is to head to a small fishing village along the coast, or better yet, out on a fishing boat to enjoy amazing seafood delicacies right off the ocean floor. Sea urchin is at its briny best just picked, cut open with scissors and plopped in one's mouth while still on the boat. Raw crab right out its shell is eaten like oysters, with salt and a squeeze of lemon, while octopus is best chopped, soaked with vinegar and tossed on a salad.

Bottarga. Another delicious and unusual thing to try is paper-thin slices or gratings of bottarga over pasta or crostini. These are rectangular blocks of dehydrated, salted and pressed egg pouch of grey mullet or tuna, and are considered a delicacy. Tuna has a stronger sea-salt flavour, and many prefer it to the more delicate grey mullet roe.

Strange Cheeses

If you’re not very adventurous, the island can provide you with an abundance of familiar cheeses like pecorino and ricotta – ranging from young to aged, delicate to the stronger flavoured. If you’re willing to indulge your sense of adventure, however, you may want to head into the mountains and hunt down some of the island's more unusual cheeses.

Callu di Cabreddu (Cabrettu). This is a goat’s milk cheese ripened in a baby goat’s stomach. The amazingly strong and flavourful cheese has been a favourite up in the mountains and valleys for what some say is thousands of years.

Casu Marzu. Sales of casu marzu are now banned in the European Union, but if you’re really keen to try it while on holidays to Sardinia, you may be able to track down some makers of this unusual delicacy in the mountains. What is it? It’s cheese made with maggots - and while some people think it's delicious it is certainly an acquired taste.

Strange Meats

Treccia and Cordulla. These are the intestines of young goats that have never ingested anything but their mother’s milk, braided together around fat and lard, then roasted over a fire. They sound less appetising than they taste; they are crisp and golden on the outside and delicate and tender on the inside.

Make sure your holidays to Sardinia include experimenting with some of these delicious dishes. They’re best paired them with the superb wines the island is known for to enjoy them as they should be.

Helen Forbes is from Essential Italy, a company specialising in Italian holiday villas, apartments and hotels. If you’re looking for the perfect villas for your holidays to Sardinia, it can be made so much easier with our help. Our handpicked villas offer distinctive Italian qualities, great comfort and convenience.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.