Sardinia has historically been a land of rivalries between one place and the other. And since the different areas of the island have undergone very different influences over the centuries, there are still very marked differences in the dialects: those who speak the dialect of Sassari will be difficult to understand by someone from Cagliari and vice versa. But then cooks built a common vocabulary. They were grouped by Cuochi per l’Isola, a non profit organisation that includes the greatest chefs from Sardinia: president, by unanimous vote, Roberto Petza (chef at restaurant S'Apposentu di Casa Puddu in Siddi) with founders Luigi Pomata (Luigi Pomata in Cagliari), Achille Pinna (Da Achille in Sant'Antioco) and Stefano Deidda (Dal Corsaro in Cagliari), joined by emerging chefs Clelia Bandini (Lucitta, Arbatax), Pierluigi Fais (Josto al Duomo, Oristano), Manuele Senis (Fradis Minoris, Pula) and Roberto Serra (Su Carduleu, Abbasanta).
Rita Denza, a great Sardinian chef who passed away last Sunday (photo olbianova.it)
The association was founded at the end of 2013 as a natural solidarity impulse after the terrible floods of November 18th that same year. After only ten days the chefs were ready to create the first charity event at
Fondazione Accademia Casa Puddu. From this point on, other 7 events followed. The eighth is coming up: it will take place this August 1st, within the
Appetitosamente festival, again in Siddi. On the occasion of the “Cose buone nel bosco” [Good things in the wood] dinner the proceeds collected during these first months of life for the association will be announced.
The charity element is not the only mission of the association, which was born, first of all, to promote the excellent gastronomic products of an island that is particularly rich in beautiful raw materials (to which not always the right value is given to). But also to promote the new generations of chefs, with projects that lead to various partnerships with local catering schools. Since last April, chefs Petza, Pomata, Pinna and Deidda participated in the Cucinando sul Mare project, promoted by the Alcoa Foundation, the town of Portoscuso and the social co-op Stella dei Mari: together they work to train the ex-workers of an important industrial site in Sardinia, which is currently undergoing a profound crisis.
Stefano Deidda, Dal Corsaro restaurant in Cagliari (photo Pietro Pio Pitzalis)
In May, instead, during the
Fiera Campionaria della Sardegna, the associated chefs and pastry chef
Leonildo Contis from
Sanluri, animated the fair with cooking shows and street food tastings. All this up to
Girotonno in Carloforte, last June, when
Paolo Marchi underlined the importance and the reasons behind this organization, «a positive signal for Sardinian cuisine».
Which, as we noticed at Coxinas a few days ago (but also at Cantine Aperte, at winery Pala in Serdiana at the end of may, the stage for another charity event), strongly bets on the concept of street food, a strategic theme for all the members, especially so as it is by reinterpreting traditionally poor food that it becomes possible to attract new generations to creative cuisine. If only there were more organisations such as this, in Italy.
