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THE SHEEP-BREEDING
In the collective imagination it is probably the figure of the shepherd that embodies the idea of Sardinia as a proud and “wild” land. Which is probably the natural consequence in an island where the inhabitant-sheep relationship is incredibly disproportionate in favour of the latter. Still today, as a matter of fact, in a large part of the Sardinian hinterland it is more than normal during a journey, especially in the secondary roads, to run into a shepherd while he is loading his sheep to pasture or, towards evening when he is bringing them back to the fold. Countless legends have this figure as a main character, the presence of whom has become so natural to the essence itself of this land. Shy and solitary men, perfectly controlling the most hidden and inaccessible mountain paths, guardians of a millenary culture that is lost in the dim and distant past. And it is to this culture that the most traditional Sardinian gastronomy goes back, a cuisine that, especially in the inland, prefers meat for its most typical dishes. After various decades characterized by the gradual disappearing of this “job” for lack of “vocation” towards such a particularly hard life, nowadays you can see that the interest in such a job is flourishing again. Especially if it is accompanied by the introduction of modern working techniques that enable sheep-breeding to become an attractive activity for a young man, even if these techniques do not change the essence radically. The coast of Alghero is certainly not an area where sheep-breeding represents one of the fundamental fields of its economy. It is however possible to meet some of these figures here too. The Martinelli brothers, for example, own a very large land which is used both as a farm and as pasture for their about thousand sheep. It is to them I went to be present at the milking or at the various stages in making their extraordinary Ricotta, and it is always from them we buy fresh eggs or an exceptional goat’s milk that we use for some particular dishes.
Lambkins
Goat
Piglets
The Milking
Typical Special Products
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES | OLIVE OIL | WINE |
CHEESE | SHEEP-BREEDING |
