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Saffron, bread and pompia fruit: welcome to Marmilla - Sardinia

Marmilla is a province in Sardinia and represents the corner stone of the slow food movement on Sardinia.  In the hinterland of the south of the island, with green valleys, expansive fields of lavender and precious, vineyards. Different to the vaguely Catalan ambience of Alghero and the crystal-clear waters of Villasimius, there is a Sardinia for true connoisseurs. Discover this part of Sardinia - for the countryside, the food and rare ancient monuments, the nuraghs, the mysterious monuments dating back three or four thousand years; found nowhere else in the world . And in its centre, an the farming and pastoral town of Turri, an area that offers amazing colors - from the intense green of the fields to the deep hues of the earth. The farmers grow cereals, legumes and leafy greens, and they make wine, olive oil, cheese and, above all, grow and process saffron.

As part of the Slow Food movement, Sardinia Slow Experience participates in many events about Slow Food in Sardinia and in Europe, as they are also part of the Presidio of Pompia of Siniscola, the unique citrus fruit that grows only in the area of Siniscola. The pompia tree looks like an orange tree, but with strange fruit: as large as or larger than a grapefruit, bright yellow in color and with a thick, ribbed, wrinkled skin. Pompia trees grow wild in the scrub and in citrus groves only in Sardinia, in the Baronia area, which surrounds the town of Siniscola. The citrus has been grown here for at least two centuries, and is an essential ingredient in some traditional sweets, like sa pompìa intrea, for which the pith is candied in honey. The rind is also used to flavor spirits.

The once glorious Puddu pasta maker Puddu Pasta has now been transformed into a cultural centre, by Michelin Star chef  Roberto Petza.  S'Apposentu is set within a beautiful estate in the remote village of Siddi. He has created a surprising wine-and-food-culture system that combines operating a restaurant with training in the rediscovery of an agricultural land now forgotten. He interprets the traditional cuisine with rare vegetables, such as pees, the aroma of Sardinian artichokes, the garlic, onions, potatoes and wild herbs, from barnyard animals to pasturing ones. Sardinia is a land of meat. From porceddu (suckling pig) to sheep by way of geese and chickens that the chef raises out behind the restaurant.  In addition to the restaurant, located in the old family home of the Puddu pasta makers, Roberto Petza heads up an academy of haute cuisine and a foundation that promotes up-and-coming food and wine enterprises in the region.

Fabulous dishes such as Raviolini with Margherita onion, powdered onion, pepper sauce and pecorino. «Marmilla is a land of pulses»: here’s Chickpea cream, mullet puttanesca, cheese gnocchi. A main dish such Oxtail terrine, celery sauce, baby potato crumble.  


To finish this fabulous Sardinian dinner, choose either a dessert such as Passeggiata nell'orto, a delicious dessert: chard sponge, Jerusalem artichoke, strawberries, orange, beetroot. or close the meal, with a delicious cheese such as Pecorino matured 2 months with raw milk, it is only lightly cured with salt.

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