On San Pietro, the food is good, very good, and the local Tabarchina cuisine adds a unique flavour to the traditional Italian one that most of us already know and love.
In the town of Carloforte, you will discover local dishes cooked in time-honored ways, passed down from generation to generation. Its ideal location in the middle of the Mediterranean means it`s bathed in sunshine for most of the year, this abundance of sunlight and its pristine environment bestow unique and genuine flavours to its locally sourced products from the land and the sea.
As you walk through the village on its cobbled streets, adorned with architecture from the 18th and 19th century, with beautiful façades and houses in pastel shades, you will be surrounded by the sights and aromas of these traditional dishes cooking. All that`s left for you to do is choose from one of the many authentic and locally-owned trattorias, cafés or restaurants, and delight your senses by sampling the unique flavours that can only be found here on the island of San Pietro.
The extremely high concentration of centenarians, especially in some regions of Sardinia, has long attracted the attention of the international scientific community.
The longevity of the Sardinians is genetic, but not only so! As well as the genes and not least in importance, are food and diet. Because of this, the centenarian’s diet has come into focus throughout the culinary world.
Local foods that are nutritionally rich and often produced by the consumers themselves, combined with a rhythm of life that includes peaceful rest, healthy physical activity, and the natural environment, are the key to ‘successful aging.’
People live better and longer on the Island, compared to the Italian, European, and world average.
Carloforte is considered to be one of Italy’s most beautiful fishing towns, a pearl of the Mediterranean, and during the Girotonno festival (which runs from 24th to 27th May), you can experience Carloforte and the local cuisine in an event much-awaited for around the world.
It’s well known that food can tell you something about an area and its people, and in San Pietro, the culinary tradition is the identity and soul of the local community. This international gastronomic event symbolises this in its expression of the culture and by promoting the local specialties with culinary competitions and live cooking shows.
But it’s not only the delicacy of the dishes that have made Carloforte and the Girotonno famous and renowned for its cuisine, but it’s also their originality and unique special ingredients. In Carloforte you can enjoy foods that you will not find anywhere else because they don’t exist outside the island. Visitors who have been to the festival come back year after year, it’s the most popular festival on the island and highly recommended to those who love and appreciate the celebration of authentic local cuisine.
The couscous Tabarchino, called “cascà” by the population of Carloforte, originates from the culinary tradition of Tabarca, an island off theTunisian coast. The Ligurian ancestors of Carloforte’s inhabitants moved to Tabarca in the fourteenth century to practice coral fishing, and on returning to the island brought with them many Tunisian culinary influences.
These are now celebrated during the Tarbachino couscous festival, held on the last weekend of April, and it’s well worth a visit.
The festival, which mostly focuses on cooking, is aimed at displaying the traditional recipe (starting from the processing of semolina, the essential element for the creation of the cascà), highlighting the nutritional properties, and explaining the true meaning of the Carlofortino cascà. This dish symbolizes sharing, hospitality, and friendship.
The festival is not only about food, but it also promotes numerous events which are held throughout in the local town square, such as local music, singers, entertainers, dancing and especially activities for children. It is an unmissable opportunity to see and feel the authenticity of the island and immerse yourself within the local culture.
If you love the food and would like to get hands-on and learn how to cook it, we have a selection of excellent chefs that can show you how. You will be cooking direct supervision in their restaurant kitchens, and once you`ve mastered the dish, you, of course, get to enjoy your creation with a glass of Sardinian wine.
