In the mountainous centre of Sardinia researchers have detailed an astonishing longevity hot spot in which they have documented 90 centenarians among a population of 18,000. That means that one out of every 200 people in Ogliastra has lived to celebrate a 100th birthday. It’s an extraordinary figure, about 50 times the rate of the United States, where only one person out of every 10,000 people lives to see 100 (and 1 male in 20,000 reaches 100). “These are people who not only have a very long life, but they are healthy up to a very old age,” says Luigi Ferrucci, chief researcher of longitudinal studies at the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA) and a co-author of the Ogliastra study.
The difference with the Sardinian ratio of centenarians is that it is about equal for men and women. In most societies, 100-plus females outnumber males by 4 to 1.
Since Sardinia’s coast has always been victim to invaders and pirates, the original Nuraghe inhabitants of Sardinia found refuge in the mountainous hinterland of the island. Therefore, the traditional foods of Sardinia were always more influenced by the land than the sea. As a result, fish and seafood do not traditionally figure in Sardinian cuisine and came into the picture much later.
Sardinia does not have rich soil, and the island lacks a high rainfall. The climate can be ferocious and drought is common. The rough-hewn mountainous centre of the island shimmers with olive groves, grapes, herds of goats, small villages and countless sheep. The Mediterranean trinity of wheat, olive, and vine was born of the climate and history. Sardinia is also by tradition a sheepherding country, and this is partly reflected in its cuisine.
1) Sardinian cuisine - Eat a plant-based diet with meat a special treat.
The typical Sardinian diet contains beans, whole-grain breads, fruit, and garden vegetables. They eat very little meat, perhaps only once every couple of weeks, or at weddings and special festivals. Traditional Sardinian cuisine shares one factor with almost all other cultures where longevity is endemic, the very low consumption of meat. This is often linked with a tough environment and a cultural history of financial struggle. Poverty seems to have at least one positive corollary – a low level of meat consumption and high plant-based diet leads to an absence of diseases of “affluence,” and to longer life.
Prosperity came to Sardinia after the late 1940s. The Rockefeller Foundation financed an effort that wiped out malaria, and a postwar economic boom in Italy brought jobs and paved roads to Barbagia. Along with them came vaccinations, antibiotics, and modernized health care. Only now could the Sardinian Blue Zone’s combination of genes and lifestyle work its real magic on the population.[1]
Sardinian cuisine is linked to the production of wheat (imported by the Romans, who called the island the granary of Rome) and flour, traditions which are revealed in the rich selection of local bread, pasta and desserts.
Sardinian bread was made of hard wheat, perhaps with a little barley. These are the only two cereals mentioned in Sardinian documents. Today there is a variety of traditional breads: some made with white flour; others like semolina made with hard wheat; breads with bran or sprouts; breads with bread crumbs; or bread as flat as a sheet of music, called literally carta di musica in Italian or pani carasau in Sardinian, or pani guttiau, a "sheet of music" bread re-baked with olive oil drippings.[2]
The different types of dried pasta we see today almost certainly originated from the traditional Sardinian pasta, which was left to dry in the open air and sun. The best examples of these are: “fregula”, which is a bran pasta prepared in small balls; “culurgiones”, ravioli with a variety of fillings (ricotta, saffron, mint, meat); “malloreddus”, typically served with tomato sauce.
However, it is perhaps the production and elaboration of bread which best illustrates the quality of Sardinian flour and the island’s age-old tradition. Each region boasts its own speciality bread, made with special techniques and according to ancient recipes. Sanluri is famous for “civraxiu”, Ozieri for “spianata”, Ogliastra for “pistoccu”. The wafer thin “pane carasau” bread is typical of the Barbagia region and was a staple part of the shepherds’ diet, together with “pane frattau”, a sort of pie made from “pane carasau” baked with tomato sauce, pecorino cheese and boiled eggs.[3]
“Shepherds and peasants in Sardinia have an exceptionally simple diet, which is extraordinarily lean even by Mediterranean standards,” a 1941 survey reported. “Bread is by far the main food. Peasants leave early in the morning to the fields with a kilogram of bread in their saddlebag … At noon their meal consists only of bread, with some cheese among wealthier families, while the majority of the workers are satisfied with an onion, a little fennel, or a bunch of ravanelli. At dinner, the reunited family eats a single meal consisting of a vegetable soup (minestrone) to which the richest add some pasta. In most areas, families ate meat only once a week, on Sunday.[4]
Finally, desserts. “Sebadas” are round, sweet ravioli, filled with cheese, which are fried and then covered in honey. The speciality biscuits of Ozieri are the “sospiri”, while Tonara is famous for Sardinian nougat. The Campidano region offers delicious “gueffus” and “candelau”, the Barbagia has its “piricchittus” and “pabassinas”, while throughout the island visitors can taste numerous biscuits made from almonds and sweet cheeses.
With 5000 years of practice, it is not surprising that the art of cheese-making has been perfected, producing 80% of Italy’s Pecorino Romano. If you like cheese you will be spoilt for choice with an overwhelming range of hard and soft cheese, mild or tangy, with hard pecorino, or the soft ricotta. Sardinia is known for its rustic sheep and goat cheeses like Pecorino Sardo and Fiore Sardo, which can either be served fresh or aged.
Fresh white cheese was made for seasoning soups and minestrone; one such cheese, called casu e' filixu, was a fresh cheese layered with fern leaves in the centre. Cheese is still used abundantly in Sardinian cuisine: in soups, in stews, in small ravioli, and in famous desserts such as sebádas, semolina, egg, and cheese fritters flavoured with sugar, lemon, and honey or the pardule, baked buns of semolina stuffed with saffron- and orange zest-flavoured fresh ricotta cheese.
Typical Sardinian cooking makes use of all kinds of beans: fava, white beans, lupins (Lupinus albus), chickpeas, and lentils. Beans have among the highest protein content of all plant foods and are nutritionally important for people who cannot or choose not to eat meat. The amino acids found in beans are perfectly complemented by those in cereals, and these two foods are the first ones found preserved in archaeological sites. When we see Mediterranean dishes with wheat and beans, or rice and lentils, or maize and peas, they are dishes that come very close to fulfilling our protein needs in terms of a correct balance of amino acids.
Parsley, leeks, and especially lots of cabbage were grown and used in soups and minestrone. Onions, chicory, spinach, and beets were also commonplace on the late medieval Sardinian table. The most common fruit was citron. A favourite pasta was called fregula, probably inspired by the Arab couscous. For pudding, sweet desserts with honey are also a speciality, as are sweet biscuits such as suspiros - sweet almond cakes wrapped in coloured paper.[5]
“Sardinian food is big on fresh produce. Being an island, Sardinia has always had to provide for itself, as importing food has always been costly. Sardinian farms grow many different fruit and vegetable crops. Tomatoes, oranges, figs, apples, apricots, grapes and courgettes are all popular foods that are grown plentifully on the island. The Sardinian climate is perfect for growing fruit and vegetable crops, with many days of sunshine and a sea breeze blowing in at night, cooling the land.”[6]
Sardinian pasta dishes include Spaghetti con Bottarga, with dried grey mullet roe shaved on top. Malloreddus is a gnocchi flavoured with saffron and served with tomato sauce. Culingiones are round ravioli stuffed with spinach and cheese. Rustic stews with wild vegetables and hearty beans, And the flavours that make everything pleasing to the palate are natural: wild oregano, fennel, garlic, and bay leaves, and a distinct fondness for fresh herbs such as myrtle and mint.
The Sardinian interior produces some of the best and leanest lamb in all of Italy, and they enjoy their meats roasted Porceddu[7] (Sardinian for Porchetta). Suckling pig or kid goat are also favourites.[8] But the traditional Sardinian diet is low in protein and mostly plant-based, with occasional meat.
2) Physical activity.
The agrarian based Sardinians keep active tending sheep and tilling the soil for gardens and crops. Walking steep mountainous country for long distances, and constant work that is linked integrally with community life, is the rule. Walking at least five miles per day as Sardinian shepherds do, provides many benefits. This simple exercise has shown positive results in cardiovascular health, while also improving muscles, bones, and metabolism without adverse distress on joints.
3) Spirituality.
Sardinians maintain a Catholic Christian faith that keeps their focus outside of themselves. A focus that is primarily individual and internal, tends toward self-centredness, and will often lead towards loss of motivation and encouragement, and sometimes depression.
4) Social Network – Put Family First
Sardinians have strong family values. This ensures that each family member is cared for. It also has demonstrated that individuals growing up in strong, healthy families have lower rates of depression, suicide and stress. Put Value on elders –Grandparents often bestow love, financial help, wisdom, and traditions that help motivate younger generations to achieve success. Extended family and friends are available to share troubles and take some of the emotional burden out of life. This is integral to their long and happy lives. Laugh with Friends – Men from Sardinia have “a sardonic sense of humour”. They gather in their streets daily to laugh with and at each other. Laughter can lower one’s risk of cardiovascular disease, and levels of stress.
[1]Beutner, Dan. The Blue Zones, p 37 [2] Clifford Wright, an acclaimed expert in the field of Medieval Mediterranean cuisine: Some of above material taken from his web site. [3]Breads: ‘pane carasau’ – known as Shepherd’s bread (wafer thin); ‘pane guttiau’ – pane carasau brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt; ‘spianata’ – similar to pitta bread; ‘faine’ – a flat bread used for making ‘pizza’ type snacks; and ‘cvraxiu’ – a thick circular loaf with a crisp crust. [4]Beutner, Dan. Blue Zones, p 49 [5]Above taken from various Web sites, but especially from Clifford Wright. [6] http://ezinearticles.com/?Add-Sardinian-Food-to-Your-Diet&id=1005710 [7] Porchetta /por'ket:a/ is a savory, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition. The body of the pig is gutted, deboned, arranged carefully with layers of stuffing, meat, fat, and skin, then rolled, spitted, and roasted, traditionally over wood. Porchetta is usually heavily salted in addition to being stuffed with garlic, rosemary, fennel, or other herbs, often wild. [Wikipaedia] [8] www.life in Italy.com/tourism/Sardinia
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