November
TURRI
THE SAFFRON FESTIVAL
There
is an appointment not to be m
issed
in November, in the province of Cagliari: it is the Saffron Festival of Turri.
The festival will take place on 12th November, but this special year it will
be preceded by the interesting meeting “Saffron and Herbs”, which will be inaugurated
on Sunday 5th November at 9.30 am, with Dr Antonello Sannia’s (a phytotherapist
surgeon) report “News about the therapeutical properties of officinal plants
in Sardinia”. This year too, the Festival and the meeting will offer the visitor
the opportunity to appreciate the many virtues of saffron, and taste numerous
dishes flavoured with this precious spice: herb teas prepared by experts and
other local agroindustrial products. Also, one can visit and see more closely
the places and traditions of Marmilla, which is an important 
corner
of this land. During the Festival the organizing committee
(Pro Loco, municipality, Producers’ Association) will devote themselves to show
the tourists the fields under cultivation which surround the village. The most
curious and interested of them can follow the different stages of work: from
the picking of flowers with the traditional basket, to the work of separating
stigmas from other parts of the flower, up to the drying up in the sun. Meanwhile,
in the village, from 10.00 am, the meeting goes on with Bianca Rosso’s report
“Use of herb teas and their properties” and Peeter Meier’s (a herb grower) “Growing
methods in biodynamic agriculture”. In the afternoon, the journalist-oenogastronomist
Angelo Concas will speak about the “Use of spontaneous herbs of Marmilla in
cooking”. Now, within the new Primary School, the show room is opened: large
baskets full of flowers; big and small pots full of the dried red thread; sweets
(many of them are saffron sweets); all the agroindustrial products of Marmilla
(civraxiu bread, cheese, dried pulses, almonds, oil, olives etc.). The exhibition
also includes some ethnographical material belonging to the country people culture
and dried flowers made in Turri. At about 5.00 pm, one will enjoy the tasting
of local typical saffron dishes.
GONNOSFANADIGA
THE OLIVE FESTIVAL
This
year, the 14th 150-year-old Olive Festival of Gonnosfanadiga will take place
from 17th to 19th November. This 
interesting
exposition of the food products and trade activities of the piedmont district
of Linas is being organized, as usual, by the local Pro Loco, the municipality,
the 18th Comunità Montana “Monte Linas” and the oil traders’ cooperative “Santa
Barbara”. Not only can one appreciate a major production of the island, such
as that of olives and oil: there are also other typical specialities of the
area. In Gonnosfanadiga, as you know, nature has always been particularly generous
and its territory, situated close to the high peaks of Monte Linas, among holm-oak
and oak woods, hills and green plateaux, offers one of the most suitable places
for the growing of olive trees, from which an excellent oil is extracted. Indeed,
the area represents an ideal pedo-morphological environment for this type of
growing activity, which has been carried out since the oldest times in the territory
of Gonnosfanadiga, allowing the local olive growers to gain all over the centuries
a great deal of experience (handed down up to now) which, together with modern
techniques, guarantees the high quality of “Santa Barbara” cooperative’s products.
In fact, the qualitative-organoleptic, nutritional and physical-chemical properties
of the extra vergine oil “Santa Barbara” won it the prestigious first prize
“Ercole Olivario” in the category “fruttato medio”. These characteristics make
the taste of this oil unmistakable, in such a way that it could be a product
of guaranteed origin and boast the D. O. C. certification mark (Controlled Denomination
of Origin). The high quality of this oil results from several factors: first,
this type of olive, strictly local and extremely healthful, protected against
parasites (when necessary) only by delicate and respectful means; secondly,
the careful way of harvesting (by hand) and the extraction of oil, carried out
without any heating.
DESULO
CHARMED BY FLAVOURS AND TRADITION...
AT “MOUNTAINS PRODUCE”
Delicious flavours, intense perfumes and fragrances, old customs: one will find
this and much more in Desulo, a village of 3250 inhabitants standing on a green
ridge of the Gennargentu mountains, on 1st –2nd –3rd –4th –5th November, on
the occasion of the 10th “Mountains produce” Festival. In Desulo, skilful hands
still prepare the typical “pane cicci” bread, a sun-shaped “saucer”, not too
thin, eaten at table or in the countryside, by shepherds. Ham, salami and cheese,
too, are some of the major products of Desulo tradition. Pecorino cheese, perhaps
the oldest one, is the pride of many local shepherds. To make a whole cheese,
6/7 litres of fresh sheep’s milk are necessary. Left to age for 20-60 days,
this cheese is sweet and can be
used to make cakes and other dishes. Aged for more than 60 days, it is more
spicy and goes well with pasta and full-bodied wine. Among other products, let
us mention “su casu marciu”, that is “rotten” cheese with worms, and “goatling’s
rennet”, made from a goatling’s stomach full of the sucked up milk. Tradition
also offers a great deal of cakes: “pane ‘e saba”, “pardulas”, and “torrone”,
which is not Tonara’s speciality only. An excellent nougat, it is skilfully
prepared with mountain honey. In Desulo, on this occasion, one can taste and
buy these delicious products at the numerous stalls prepared according to definite
itineraries. Thus, the old town centre comes to life again, with its old houses
made of 
schist
and wood, where various products are displayed, both gastronomy and handicrafts.
Moreover, it is particularly pleasant to walk in the busy streets and meet those
women wearing the typical red costume made of coarse wollen fabric, whose handmade
silk embroidery shows a strict symmetrical succession of bright colours. Here,
one should also visit the house-museum “Montanaru”, where a famous writer lived,
who wrote poems in the Sardinian language; today, this ethnographic museum houses
a faithful representation of customs and traditions of the past. After visiting
the village, one should not miss the opportunity to walk in the mountains, such
a unique landscape that it was chosen to be a Natural Park. If you climb up
to the mountaintop, you will see droves of mouflons and the majestic flight
of the Royal eagle, the buzzard and the hawk. On the slopes, one can admire
extremely beautiful and rare plants: hollies and centuries-old yews, small but
sweet-smelling orchids and many other plants. One can also gather various types
of fruit, particularly plentiful in this period, such as chestnuts, hazelnuts,
walnuts or mushrooms, among which the delicious Royal pore mushroom is to be
found. In short, coming to “Mountains produce” represents a good opportunity
to taste a number of flavours and live a great many sensations.
