What to eat Corsica? culinary specialties and gastronomy

Excellent, the Corsican pork-butchery constitutes one of the standard-bearers of the insular agricultural products with singing names and delicious savours. Nevertheless, beware of industrial sausages: even if it means paying a little more, we prefer to buy directly from the producer or in small specialized stores to be sure that the animals are born, raised and slaughtered on the spot. This traditional cold meat, made exclusively in winter, is the expression of an exceptional link to the land, bringing into play ancient know-how, a local breed of pig (the "Nustrale"), a breeding on the land and a finishing diet of acorns or chestnuts. These specificities have enabled the profession, grouped within the Salameria Corsa union, to obtain after more than ten years of hard work a PDO for three traditional charcuterie products: the dry-cured ham: "Jambon sec de Corse ou Prisuttu" (ham on the bone), coppa: "Coppa de Corse ou Coppa di Corsica" (pork loin), and lonzo: "Lonzo de Corse ou Lonzu" (salted pork fillet, dried and matured with herbs).

The other star of the island of Beauty in terms of charcuterie is of course the figatelli, a pork liver sausage that is made in winter and eaten until spring. It is especially appreciated grilled and eaten on a slice of polenta with chestnut flour. Other key products include panzetta, sangui, pudding with grapes or mint, salciccia or salamu, sausages made from natural casings filled with minced meat and fat, or casgiu di porcu, a head cheese.

Red mullets, dentis, mostelles, sea breams and wolves: fish are of course an integral part of the Corsican culinary tradition, and are eaten every Sunday, with friends or family, after a fishing trip. The fish is often cooked in its freshness, grilled. But there are also many preparations that are worth the detour, such as aziminu, a typical dish rich in aromatics that is similar to bouillabaisse, escabeche, agliolu, brandade and anchiuta. When moving away from the coast, one does not give up fish thanks to the trout of torrent or the eels.

In Corsica, seafood is also king: there are almost 80 edible species around the coast. The Corsican seabed is amazingly diverse, with abyssal depths very close to the coast. Among the most consumed species are lobsters, sea urchins and oysters. Sea urchins can be prepared in different ways: soups, creams, omelets, soufflés, scrambles... But the real fans prefer a simple sea urchinade, with their feet in the water. The appointment for fishing is from December to April, fishermen offer in town their sea urchins in large baskets placed on the ground. For a giant urchinade, go to Ile Rousse on the Marinella on April 1st! Corsican oysters are cultivated in the ponds of the eastern coast, thepond of Diana and thepond of Urbinu. Compared to the Atlantic oysters, they grow much faster and are therefore eaten young. With their particular nutty taste, oysters from the Diana Pond have been renowned since Roman times and have received several gold medals.

Corsica now produces 2,500 tons of cheese per year, 75% of which is made from sheep and the rest from goats. Throughout the territory, there is a myriad of cheeses, the most famous of which is brocciu, a fresh cheese at the heart of the Corsican identity. For a long time, it was considered the cheese of the poor, probably because it was made from a residue of milk. In a society of subsistence, where were privileged the foods which calm by bringing force and heat, the brocciu found perfectly its place. In order to guarantee the authenticity and the quality of the product, which was threatened with extinction for a long time, a label of origin was established in 1983, reinforced in 1993 by the label of controlled origin. It is available fresh from January to July. It can also be salted to preserve it, and incorporated into preparations after having been desalted. It marries well its flavors with meats, vegetables and fish; in pastry, its uses are numerous and vary according to the region, both in the recipe and in the appellation. It is used in many traditional dishes such as fiadone, migliacci, fritters, omelets, storzapreti, etc.

One finds according to the regions of other varieties of cheeses as the Niulincu (region of Niolu) whose smooth paste caprine or ovine is covered with a scraped crust, the Venacesu (region of Venaco) of round form, the Calinzanincu (region of Balagne, village of Calenzana) of soft and spicy goat paste, the unctuous Bastellicacciu (Bastelica and Bocognano) or the Sartinusu (region of Sartène) and its semi-hard pressed paste. Finally, there is the famous Corsican tomme, a spicy cheese with character, made from sheep or goat milk. All of them can be savored with peasant or chestnut bread, accompanied by fig or melon jam, to soften their very pronounced taste.

With its exceptional relief and climate, Corsica is a paradise for the cultivation of chestnut and citrus trees. This is evidenced by the presence of the National Institute of Agronomic Research (INRA), which has been established in Corsica since the 1960s and has built up a remarkable collection of citrus trees, probably the most beautiful and complete in the world. Thus, lemons, oranges and grapefruits grow happily on Corsican soil, not to mention the clementine and citron, both typical. It should be noted that the Corsican clementine is the only purely French variety, with more than 20,000 tons harvested each year. A protected geographical indication was obtained in 2007 for this emblematic fruit.

With its own AOC designation, the chestnut is grown on farms by about 200 to 250 farmers. It has long been the basis of Corsican food for the inhabitants, but also for their pigs, thus giving the pork meats their particular taste. In Castagniccia, 22 different chestnut-based dishes were served at weddings. Chestnuts can be prepared in many different ways: boiled, roasted or ground into flour to make polenta, pastries or bread.

The island of Beauty is also distinguished for its sweet preparations. Canistrellis are among the most famous dry cookies and come in different flavors, from aniseed to lemon. Another emblematic cake is the fiadone, made with brocciu and flavored with lemon or orange blossom. There are also many recipes based on chestnuts. Among the most common, the falculelles, a kind of flat cake made of brocciu, sugar, eggs, wheat or chestnut flour, then baked on a chestnut leaf; the torta castagnina, a cake made of chestnut flour and walnuts; the campanili, a kind of brioche made of eggs to which brocciu can be added; the migliacci, similar to falculelles. Also to be savored, the excellent chestnut cakes that are found after the harvest, in winter and spring.

Corsica also produces a lot of honey, notably the honey of chestnut grove, strong and tannic with a slight bitterness, or the honeys "of maquis" of autumn or spring. Reputed as being particularly tasty and rich in flavors by the specialists, the Corsican honey draws its taste from the diversity of flowers and trees that the bees gather in the scrubland with its thousand scents.

More surprisingly, Corsica also stands out in terms of chocolate, with the Colomb-Bereni house winning the International Chocolate Awards in 2018, and a chocolate fair held every year in Bastia and Ajaccio.

A mountain range that culminates at more than 2,000 meters, an island bathed in sunlight forming a terroir like no other: Corsica gives the vine and its wines all the strength and specificity of its insularity. Each of its valleys benefits from a different exposure and microclimate, with high altitude wines rubbing shoulders with coastal wines to accompany cold cuts and seafood. Corsica has 9 protected designations of origin, including a regional designation (Vins de Corse), two appellation crus (Patrimonio and Ajaccio), 5 village designations (Corse Porto-Vecchio, Corse Figari, Corse Sartene, Corse Calvi, Corse Coteaux du Cap Corse) and a Vin Doux Naturel designation (Muscat du Cap Corse) To this myriad of wines are added local aperitifs not to be missed, such as the myrtle liqueur or the Cap Corse Mattei, a drink based on Corsican mistelles, cinchona and many exotic plants.

Corsica has the particularity to see its olives on the nets that cover the ground of the olive groves every year. The nectar with golden reflections which springs from it is very fruity. The olive oil (oliu in Corsican) is different in taste from its Provencal, Spanish, North African and Italian counterparts. The size of the olive groves varies according to the micro-regions, each of which has its own particularity: one finds the Cabanacce and the Oliesece in the Cap Corse, the Biancaghja and the Raspuluta in the Nebbiu. But it is Balagne which remains the main producer of the island, with its "Sabina" olives. On the Vico side, we find one of the oldest olive groves: the Aliva Bianca, the Aliva Nera and variants.