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Lifestyle | Travel24 CITYA.M. 16 NOVEMBER 2009
Get your hands dirty in Sardinia
THESE days, you can hardlyturn on a television withoutseeing somebody rummag-ing around in hedgerows, or
cooking a meal with somethingthey have just picked or pluckedfrom a tree. Foraging is in. The ideaof wandering around the Britishcountryside in November lookingfor my dinner doesn’t exactlyappeal – but doing so in thewarmer climes of Sardinia is a dif-ferent matter entirely.
It’s high foraging season there,and introducing me to the activityare Angelo and Archanegla, a hus-band and wife team who’ve carvedout a cult following for their quainthotel and restaurant, called Angeloand Archangela, near Monte Pinto.They don’t speak a word of Englishbut their USP is simple: authenticSardinian cooking.
The sun is setting when I arriveand there’s a warm breeze, a pleas-ant surprise inNovember after rainyLondon. I part the shut-ters of my room and amdumbstruck by a viewover gardens and adramatic rockylandscape. Thenthere’s the food.H o m e m a d eSardinian breadsprinkled withsalt and oliveoil, homemademushroom risot-to, thick mashedpotato withParmesan and fresh sal-ads. (I soon discover that thephrase “no carbs” does not trans-late.)
My foraging guide is Angelo’s
son, Marco, who takes our group toa nearby forest, a hotbed for ovuli –mushrooms that look like brightorange lightbulbs – and porcini.Mushroom foraging is secondnature to Marco, who has beendoing it since childhood. He guidesme around the dangerous varieties,while skillfully spotting the ediblekind. We pick using blunt kitchenknives and collect the best exam-ples in a basket. The mushroomsare beautiful and huge – they makeTesco’s efforts seem Lilliputian.
“Molto bene,” says Marco, beforewe head back to the restaurant tocook. The hotel is 1,700 feet up inthe wind-carved granite hills ofGallura, and Angelo, the head ofthe family, is ready with freshherbs and vegetables from his gar-den. He skillfully cuts and cleansthe giant mushrooms, and beforelong we are collectively creating aculinary feast: fresh hand-madepasta is mixed with fried freshmushrooms and garlic, and sprin-
kled with pecorino.Angelo also creates asimple mushroomcarpaccio – wafer
thin slices ofmushroom driz-zled in oil androck salt. Thereare cured mush-
rooms, sautéedmushrooms,
baked mushrooms –each made unique
with fresh herbs andingredients. We focused
on funghi, but the place runscourses in everything from pastato bread making. At differenttimes of year they will also showyou how to forage for asparagus.
Marco, who with his brother ownsa well-known restaurant, is alwayson-hand to explain things inEnglish.
What follows the cooking ses-sion can only be described as bac-chanalian-style gluttony. Guests sitwith the group and we eat, drink,and talk in broken Italian for sev-eral hours before capping thewhole affair with Mirto, a localversion of sloe gin, made fromMirto berries in Angelo’s garden.
Sardinia in the summer is aplayground for Russian oligarchsand their uberyachts, but when Ivisit it’s blissfully calm. The land-scape is stunning. It’s craggy withdramatic hills, capes and valleys.The area near Olbia has severalbeaches with crystal blue waters,and winding roads that make forscenic drives. You can venturenorth to Alghero with its 16thCentury Old Town still surround-ed by the original wall and towers.The coastal views are glorious.
During my stay I visit Cagliari, ahilltop town in the far south,where locals sit outside sippingcoffees amid faded architectureand cobble roads. I take a strolland eat another decadent meal ofgrilled fresh fish and bruschetta inDa Paulo. On another day I alsotake a walk around Oristano, asmall town with pretty boutiquesand bars, and visit Da Silvia diSolinas Antonello, where anotherfeast ensues, including salt-bakedsea bass and homemade pastries.
You get the picture: Sardiniansare serious about their food. Therestaurants here are consistentlygood with an emphasis on freshfish. Sardinian cooking is also get-ting a fantastic international repu-tation – six upscale Sardinianrestaurants have opened inLondon in the last year.
Four days later, and severalpounds heavier, I can see why.
Lucie Greene digs up Sardinian funghi. Pictures: Lucie Greene/ REX
Lucie Greene goes foraging for mushrooms on the Italian island
1. The River Cottage in Axminster,Devon, offers day courses inseashore and hedgerow foragingalongside specialist courses inBritish mushroom foraging.www.rivercottage.net2. Lime Wood Hotel launchesthis month in the New Forest,offering sumptuous hotelrooms and foraging with topchef Alex Aitken. www.limewoodhotel.co.uk3. The Foxhunter inMonmouthshire, therestauarant owned by chefMatthew Tebbutt, offers sev-
eral day courses in foraging and cook-ing. www.thefoxhunter.com
4. Quintessentially Gourmand offersfoody holidays such as salmon fish-
ing or truffle foraging in Italy.Quintessentially Travel also offers
bespoke foraging holidays. www.quintessentially.com5. Top forager MarkIrving – supplier of foragedproduce to chefs includingMark Hix and JamieOliver – runs courses in thegreater London area withhis company Forager.
www.forager.org.uk
FORAGING OPTIONS TO BRING OUT THE HUNTER GATHERER IN YOU
Foraging with Angelo and Archangela can be booked through Sardinia Holidays Direct, tel:01943 816 945. A week’s cooking course and full board is priced at £800 per person based on twopeople sharing. Foraging/cooking courses run from September to December and March to June.Mushroom season runs from late October until December. Villas are available with Domus a suMari (www.domusasumari.com) based in San Teodoro, Olbia, Sardinia. Tel: 00 39 0784 869036.Flights to Sardinia can be booked through Ryanair or easyJet.
