Cheese is probably the most consumed and delicious food of Barbagia, the most “true” and wildest area in Sardinia. Ancient Romans used to call it “the land of the barbarians”. It was a unique, mysterious land, made of mountains, hidden caves, impenetrable beams and deep gorges; the morphology of these lands is characterized by the most imposing massifs of Sardinia: the Gennargentu whose summit, called La Marmora peak, reaches 1834 meters, and the Supramonte, which with Corrasi mount stands at 1463 meters.
And so a journey to the discovery of Barbagia can not ignore the knowledge of its cheeses, produced for a long time and exported from various consortia around the world. The best-known is definitely the Sardinian pecorino, a semi-soft cheese with a compact consistency; there are also some seasoned pecorino cheese from which it is derived the illegal cheese with worms.
Among the cow’s cheeses the taedda cheese is a must, a kind of roasted provola which is a real delicacy. Among the rennet, “sa frùe” is usually served with tomatoes, and, at the same way, is used the Merca, a salty fresh cheese. Cheese can be found in various recipes, either as a pasta dressing or as a unique dish to be savor during the meal, such as the ricotta served on a lettuce leaf and sprinkled with honey, and in the preparation of sweets. Casadina is a pecorino cheese pie, while the famous “seada” is a kind of huge raviolo stuffed with cheese that, after being fried, is served with honey or sugar.
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