New pastry arts Traditional Sardinian pastry is so rich that it risks living off of stereotypes; “seadas”, “tiricche”, “pardulas” fill the collective imagination and often dissuade the search for new proposals that go beyond the desserts that are a result of Phoenician, Roman, Genovese, Spanish and Piedmont dominations. However, in the past few years, Sardinia has been standing out by bringing to life new restorative businesses and projects for an innovative cuisine. They are capable of giving value to local products and culinary traditions without giving up on searching for original offers. These new offers change their form, use modern techniques and modernize the past. The challenge is to maintain the flavours of the past, that are decisive and original, while embracing modern times. The sea, the aromas of the Mediterranean brush and the strong flavours of the hinterland should remain on the plate, but so should the creativity of the chef de cuisine and the pastry chef: a creativity that has endless ingredients at its disposal, such as saffron from Sarule, cheeses from Oschiri or the typical ladyfingers from Fonni. In Sardinia, it feels like innovation is flowing, and it is waiting to be discovered. The role of women Some testimonies from Piedmont reveal that at the end of the eighteenth century, in the noble households of Sardinia, the cooks were women. It is probable that their recipes were influenced by stories from passing cooks or from dames who often collected recipes from nuns. There was a strong French and English influence on the desserts present on noble tables, which can be seen with the frequent use of candied citrus, coffee and sorbets. 37
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