Dining Out in Cagliari
Raw sea urchin, cow stomach soup, sheep intestines. Seriously?
This will conclude my little series of posts about Sardinia. I hope you have enjoyed traveling along to this unusual destination!
The restaurant dining room is no more than fourteen feet square. There are six tables and a forest of tall potted plants. The proprietor emerges from the kitchen and shakes hands with everyone in our group, kissing cheeks as if they are family members. Some of them may, in fact, be family members. He shakes my hand and welcomes me as the Professoressa, but leaves out the kissing part.
I am in Cagliari, Sardinia, where I will be helping English instructors learn new teaching methods. I am more than thrilled to be in such an exotic location, working with these lovely Sardi. I ask them to please call me Sharron, they say, “Yes, of course!” They continue addressing me as Professoressa.
As it is my first night here in this grand, almost tropical city, the senior teachers invite me out for a special treat. They are taking me to dinner at a very small local restaurant, one that is “so secret that tourists never discover it,” they say. A hidden treasure. It’s a warm, balmy evening, the light breeze carries the fragrance of tangerines, the tang of seaweed and fish. We stroll a while through small serpentine back streets until we come to a nondescript door with a miniscule brass plaque that whispers Ristorante Canne al Vento.
The rather formal waiter hands out glasses of Cannonau, Sardinia's signature red wine, and menus that are single xeroxed sheets just for this evening’s fare. It is in Italian only. My command of the language is serviceable, but not great – which is fine, as the teachers want to practice their English with me anyway. Let’s see, what do we have…?
Ricci di Mare……………….. raw sea urchin? Ah…no, thank you.
Zuppa di trippa………….cow stomach soup? I don’t think so..
Bistecca di Cavallo……..horse steak? Definitely not
Cordula con Piselli……sheep intestines with peas? You’re kidding, right?
Piedini di Maiale…………….pigs feet? Maybe next time.
Now, friends, you only have to look at me to know I am not a fussy eater, but I am beginning to get nervous. Is there anything here I have ever even thought of eating? How embarrassing.
Lumache……………………….snails? Euw.
Fave crude… raw fava beans the size of golf balls? Tempting, but no.
Polpo con patate………….a salad of octopus and potato? Pass.
Seppie en su tinta….……cuttlefish cooked in its own ink? Yeeeks!
Finocchio……………………..fennel? Now you’re talking! This I can eat!
Sanguaccio…………………blood sausage? Uh..No.
Peccorino con pane …sheep cheese and bread? Okay! Good. Whew!
They all place their orders and then each one looks over at me in anticipation. Which of these culinary delights will the Professoressa choose? I order the cheese,bead and fennel. They all appear dismayed. I have let them down.
Marina takes my hand. “Ma! Non è abbastanza! “ (It is not enough!) They all shake their heads and, all speaking at once, ply me with suggestions.
Fabio, a no-nonsense kind of guy, turns to the waiter, “Giorgio, per favore. Le lumache per la professoressa.”
“Prego, Signore,” the waiter nods and goes off to the kitchen.
Fabio, in order to augment my dinner of bread, cheese and fennel, has ordered the snails for me. I keep smiling. And drinking.
Fortunately, when my dinner arrives, I find that my snails are, happily, not of the garden variety, but rather they are large, buttered, spiral shells .…….. of pasta. Fabio nods and winks at me.
I could have kissed him. And probably did…
Buon appetito, Professoressa - I LOVE the pasta-shell punchline! I'd say Fabio deserved a kiss!
I really enjoy eating 'black pudding', which in fact is a type of blood sausage. It's delicious! I love haggis, too, which I gather is illegal to import into the US.
I'll never forget eating andouillette in rural France on holiday as a teenager. We'd been led to believe it was sausage - and I guess it was.... of a sort. My brother called it 'pigs' insides inside pigs' insides', and it looked - and smelled! - of where it came. And I don't mean France.....
What a great ending, Sharron. A nice way to wrap up the series. The snail pasta salad looked tasty.