Sardinia

Pompia

23rd September 2018

It’s a fruit. You’ve never heard of it? Not surprising as it’s one of the rarest fruits in the world. However, thanks to the inclusion of pompia in various Sardinian desserts and liqueurs, the fruit survived. Its scientific (and pretty accurate) name is Citrus monstruosa. But it could just as easily be known as Citrus…

Sardinia

20th July 2018

Posted in Travel

When D H Lawrence visited Sardinia with his wife, Frieda, back in 1921, they weren’t much impressed. Food was scarce, and they found little to eat but cabbage and bread. Some ‘hotels’ were little more than shacks, and yet in Sea and Sardinia he wrote:

Chiara Vigo, Maestro di Bisso

7th March 2015

Posted in Travel

A recent story about tiny sea snail teeth that were stronger than titanium reminded me of the time I met a Sardinian woman who harvested ‘bisso’, strong silk-like fibres secreted by a marine bivalve mollusc, known as pinna nobilis or ‘fan mussel’. Chiara Vigo is an interesting woman; a descendant of 30 generations of bisso-weavers,…