So, I got this weird urge the other week to try and cook some Corsican food. Don’t ask me why, maybe I saw something on TV, or maybe I was just bored with the usual stuff. Anyway, I decided, right, let’s give this Corsican grub a go.
Getting Started – The Hunt
First thing, I jumped online. Looked up “Corsican food”. Lots of stuff popped up – chestnuts everywhere, cured meats, this cheese called brocciu which seemed to be in everything, and wild boar stews. Sounded hearty, rustic. Different. I thought, yeah, I can try a couple of things.
Finding recipes wasn’t too hard. Found one for a simple pasta using that brocciu cheese and mint, and another for some biscuits called Canistrelli. Looked easy enough on paper.
Then came the hard part: getting the actual ingredients. This is where things got tricky.
- That famous brocciu cheese? Absolutely nowhere to be found around here. I searched a couple of specialty shops, nothing. Ended up having to substitute with ricotta, which I read was kinda similar, but yeah, not the real deal.
- Corsican herbs like nepita? Nope. Had to guess with a mix of mint and maybe a tiny bit of oregano.
- Authentic Corsican charcuterie or specific chestnuts? Again, had to make do with what I could find locally.
It kinda felt like I was setting up for a “Corsican-inspired” meal rather than the real thing, but hey, I’d started, so I pushed on.
Into the Kitchen
Okay, cooking time. I decided to tackle the pasta first because it seemed quicker. Cooked the pasta. Mixed the ricotta (my stand-in brocciu) with some chopped mint, garlic, salt, pepper, and a bit of that generic chestnut flour I found just to feel a bit more authentic. Tossed it all together. Simple enough.
Next were the Canistrelli biscuits. The recipe called for flour, sugar, white wine, oil, and sometimes anise seeds or lemon zest. I went with lemon zest. Mixed everything up. The dough felt okay. Rolled it out, cut into little diamond shapes, and stuck them in the oven.
First batch of biscuits… well, let’s just say they were rock solid. Overcooked them, I guess. The timer betrayed me. Had another go, watched them like a hawk this time. Second batch came out much better. Crispy, but you could actually bite into them.
The Verdict?
So, we sat down to eat. The pasta was… alright! Actually pretty tasty. The mint and cheese (even if it was ricotta) worked well together. Felt fresh. Was it truly Corsican? Probably miles off, but it tasted good, and that’s something.
The second batch of Canistrelli biscuits were nice too. Good flavour, lemony, crunchy. Perfect with a cup of coffee the next morning. Definitely better than the first tooth-breaking batch.
Overall, it was an interesting experiment. Took more effort than I thought, especially hunting down (or failing to find) the proper ingredients. It makes you appreciate how regional food really depends on local stuff you just can’t get everywhere. Glad I tried it, gave me a little taste of somewhere different, even if it wasn’t perfectly authentic. Would I rush to do it again? Maybe not regularly, purely because of the ingredient hassle. But it was a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon, messing around in the kitchen.
