Sweet Myrtle and Bitter Honey: The Mediterranean Flavors of Sardinia (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Jim Eber (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

If you lived on this island in the Mediterranean, you served guests the best of what you had and treasured hospitality, Farris writes. He shares that spirit here, while explaining the unique characteristics of Sardinian food (influences not only from Italian, but also Moorish, Catalan, Arabian and other cuisines). -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sweet Myrtle and Bitter Honey: The Mediterranean Flavors of Sardinia ... illuminates the culinary traditions of one of Italy's least-explored regions: Sardinia. The exotic recipes, as well as the author's personal recollections and photographs of both the island and its cuisine, made me want to travel to Sardinia, or at least to Texas, where Farris operates two restaurants -- Newsday

"Flavored with the all-important pecorino di Sardo (sheep's milk cheese) and heavy with pastas (including fregula, like Israeli couscous, and malloreddus, tear-drop shaped and ridged) and rustic main courses, the book creates a delicious portrait of the still very rural island." -- - The Chicago Tribune

I knew Sardinia was an island in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Italy. But I had never given the place much thought until [this] evocatively titled cookbook. [The] words, and the book's color and sepia-toned vintage photographs, bring Sardinia to life and may add another stop to your list of planned culinary journeys -- San Diego Union Tribune

Mr. Farris's thoughtful essays on local ingredients and traditions (wild asparagus, household sausage-making) bring to life things that may be untranslatable. His carefully presented recipes try to translate them anyhow, with love and intelligence. -- The New York Times

With his first cookbook, Farris leaps into the front ranks of culinary regionalist and troubadour. He's a transplant to Texas, a restaurateur and importer, but his taste buds still twinkle to the lusty, muscular primal cuisine of his ancestral Sardinia. He stirs up an appetite for simple pasta dishes in which the sauce determines the shape of the macarrones, and any number of compositions featuring spiced and herbed lamb, artichokes, olives and various seafood stews enriched with bottarga. The author first tasted this "Sardinian caviar," the roe of gray mullet, at age three on a cherished expedition to catch and cook fish on the beach with his father and uncle. He balances sentimentality with frank delight in testing the reader's mettle. Roasted eels, pictured in full slither, are only a start. Anyone for abbamele, the honey and bee pollen reduction? Raw sea urchin under the full moon? Then there is casu murzu, rotten cheese, which owes its creamy texture to maggots. Our intrepid guide, who "cannot resist its charms," admits that even for him it was a childhood gross-out. Beautifully illustrated, often eminently cookable, the book also has the charms of a picaresque novel. (Oct.) -- Publisher's Weekly Oct2007

Product Description

Sardinia now rivals its northern neighbor Provence as a vacation destination. The coastline lures visitors, but it is the food that will make you linger. Chef Efisio Farris is poised to become the next great ambassador of Italian regional cuisine. To promote the cooking of his native Sardinia, he has appeared on the Food Network, given demonstrations at food festivals across the country, and even launched his own company that imports Sardinian specialties for his restaurants and for retail. It is Mediterranean cooking at its purest, making liberal use of olive oil, fish, and fresh vegetables. But it’s also distinguished by indigenous ingredients that are becoming hot trends in America: pecorino, flatbread, fava beans, fregula, and bottarga. Farris has pulled together more than one hundred recipes–many of them family secrets. Among them are Watermelon Salad with Arugula and Ricotta Salata; Pannacotta with Bitter Honey; and Bruschetta with Sausage and Pecorino Sardo. More than 150 breathtaking images take you on a tour of the countryside–from the terraced olive groves to the riverbanks full of wild asparagus. In sidebars, the author relates charming anecdotes and Sardinian history. Readers will come away not just with a taste for the island’s flavors but also a sense of Sardinia’s magical beauty and culture.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Rizzoli (October 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847829928
• ISBN-13: 978-0847829927
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #80,919 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Salute!, March 17, 2008

By	J W (Virginia) - See all my reviews

My most anticipated book purchase has exceeded all of my expectations!

If you think this is just another Italian cookbook, think again. As the author explains in the book, after centuries of raids from foreign cultures like Phoenicia, Arabia, and Spain (just to name a very small few), Sardinia finally became a part of Italy in the 1850s. This excerpt says it best; "Some of the pasta shapes, meats and cheeses (like lamb and pecorino) and of course olive oil will be familiar. But lingering Roman, Arabian, Moorish, Catalan, and other Mediterranean influences (like myrtle and saffron) make our cuisine a hybrid".

Efisio guides you through each of these exquisitely authentic recipes, shared from his own family's kitchen and effortlessly weaves in his deep devotion to Sardinian culture and history so that every page just drips with his love of country (and food). His use of indigenous ingredients such as Botarga (dried grey mullet), Miele Amaro (bitter honey) and Malloreddus (one of their pastas), paired of course with either a good Cannonau (red wine) or Vermintino (white wine) offer an exciting array of surprisingly uncomplicated recipes which makes this a treasure trove of refreshing new ideas for everyday cooking.

In true Sardinian style, you are his guest in his "home" as he takes you on tour through his beloved country. And, being the generous host, you almost don't realize that you too are falling in love with his country and its culture. Yet it seems that is the hope, for at the end Efisio has provided not only a "pantry" for places to purchase authentic Sardinian ingredients (a must have to do any of these recipes justice), he also provides a short list of hotels and restaurants to get your actual travels to Sardinia a leg up in the right direction.

This book is such a breathtaking tribute to Sardinia and its culture, it is a must read even for those with no interest in cooking, it's that good!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's my new kitchen bible!, February 20, 2008

By	Siobhan Darrow - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everybody that comes to my house gets Sardinian food these days. The recipes are deceptively easy and fill my house with lusty, irristable aromas. The lamb stew, gorgonzola-asparagus pasta (which the author cooks on Martha Stewart show) and the pork tenderloin are staple dishes in my kitchen now. Plus the beautifully written book and pitcures transport me back to Sardinia and all my wonderful trips to that magical island. This is a special book that will be a part of my kitchen for a long time!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delicious Sardinia, December 26, 2007

By	Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily). It has a very beautiful and rugged typography with seashores, rugged mountains and gorgeous views. D. H. Lawrence wrote D. H. Lawrence and Italy: Sea and Sardinia, an excellent description of this fascinating place. Sweet Myrtle contains many beautiful pictures of the island, and it is peppered with information about the island's unique culture.

In some regards, Sardinia cuisine is typical Mediterranean cooking, featuring olive oil, fish (sardines were named after the country), and fresh vegetables, but it has a number of unique foods. Casu Marzu is a cheese delicacy notable for being riddled with live insect larvae. Malloreddus is a small Sardinian ridged pasta that is often flavored with saffron; it can be white, bright yellow or tricolored. Other indigenous ingredients are becoming trendy in America: pecorino, flatbread, fava beans, fregula, and bottarga.

Authentic Sardinian cuisine requires some hard to find ingredients. Fregula, the Sardinian version of couscous and a legacy of the Moors is served in Soup of Fregula with Baby Clams flavored with garlic, saffron and tomatoes. For many of the appetizers you'll have to find Sardinian Bottarga, a dried grey mullet fish roe. It appears in Fennel and Crabmeat Salad with Bottarga and in Calamari Stuffed with Ricotta and Bottarga. The book is filled with excellent seafood dishes as well as pork and beef - some made with the unusual heritage Reggiana cows that have a beautiful red coat. Parmigiano Reggiano Vacche Rosse is a very expensive cheese made from its milk.

The bitter honey of the title is another important and unusual ingredient in Roasted Cheese with Pane Carasu and Bitter Honey. The pane (bread) has a lyrical name: Pane Carasau or Sardinian Music Bread. It is a thin, puffed bread almost like a pita. "Bitter honey is made from the flowers of the codbezzolo, or strawberry tree, which grow wild along Sardinia's coast and mountain valleys. As children, we used to grab the white bell-shaped flowers from the trees and suck out the uniquely flavored pollen. Of course, we had to dodge the bees to do it." The honey also appears in Sweet Ravioli with Bitter Honey in which the pasta is filled with sheep's milk ricotta.

This is a lovely book to read, and if you can find the special Sardinian ingredients a great cuisine to learn.


Robert C. Ross 2007 2008