This past weekend we were invited back to the 12lb Snapper House for a traditional Sardinian BBQ. Being Canadian and one who was brought up on the best BBQ’s the world has to offer, I was excited to try a traditional Sardinian BBQ.
Ajo. Andemu in Cuzina per cena. Maureddu ha lu carne, e voule fare un BBQ. My husband said to me in his barbaric dialect.
Come on! We are going to the kitchen for dinner. Maureddu has meat, and he wants to have a BBQ.
I was a little thrown off as the 12 lb Snapper house is a bachelor pad with a nice fireplace, a sofa and a big screen on the wall but no BBQ. I figured ok, what the heck and left it to the two Sardinian guys and opened a bottle of Cannonau.
Sardinian BBQ
We are having a BBQ in the family fireplace? I asked in my perfectly broken Italian, which sounded more like this: Stiamo avendo un barbecue nel caminetto?
Si. come no? questo è il vecchio modo. Yes, why not? This is the old way.
I knew it was best to let the Sards do what they know best, and poured more wine.
I could hear them rattling away in their local lingua.
Agghju fame. Ajo. Facému così …
I’m hungry. Come on, or let’s go. Let’s do it like this …
E prontu. It’s ready.
BBQ-ed Pancetta
Vino, vino rosso. Get your red-hot vino rosso. I blared out in my perfect Canadian dialect, and was met with stares of confusion and disbelief. Leave it to me to add song and dance to everything I do, doesn’t matter what part of the world I’m in there’s a song always playing, albeit inside my head.
Sardinian pancetta
Fresh pancetta, local fennel, pickled eggplant and bottled Sardinian red wine. Nothing beats the taste of fresh, local ingredients in your diet. This meal was 100% locally grown and produced.
The Dish
Nothing tastes as fine as fresh meat barbecued in the family fireplace. This was one experience I can’t wait to try again.
My Sardinian Life 
Christmas barbecue last Sunday: chicken, lamb or beef on skewers, mixed green salad, luscious sliced tomatoes, followed by colourful fruits in season. Wonderful! Except that an unexpected downpour interrupted everything! A storm in summer!
Oh well, that’s life in Sydney, Australia!
Sounds delicious even with the downpour.
You’re right, Jennifer. What’s a few drops of rain on such yummy food, especially when you’re in good company!
Cheers from Sydney, Australia!
Your life is mighty cool, Jennifer! Very awesome BBQ! Keep exploring life’s many mysteries, young lady!
I’ve had a Maori hangi:
Hāngi (pronounced [ˈhaːŋi]) is a traditional New Zealand Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven still used for special occasions.
To “lay a hāngi” or “put down a hāngi” involves digging a pit in the ground, heating stones in the pit with a large fire, placing baskets of food on top of the stones, and covering everything with earth for several hours before uncovering (or lifting) the hāngi.
I saw a documentary once on hangi. Would love to try it!
I had a Finnish barbecue on my way to Italy this time. That was good too. I really like the look of yours. I could eat fennel all day.
What’s a Finnish barbecue?
The fireplace! I never even considered that before.
It stuck me as odd too!
Another use for the family fireplace! Love it! But what fuel were they using to produce such strange purple flames? Looks like a bewitched BBQ!
Really, good point! I have no idea why the flames are purple, I thought maybe it was the exposure on my camera. I don’t remember the flames actually being purple, but proof is in the pudding. All they used was fresh wood (probably olive tree) and a flame, no fuel of any sort.
It’s probably a trick of the camera then as I’m sure you’d remember those purple flames otherwise. Unless you thought it was a trick of the wine!
No, the wine wasn’t playing a trick on me. The flames in real life were not purple.
I was just kidding about the wine. I’m sure it was the camera but I like the effect.
I’m now almost vegetarian, but for this I’d almost turn carnivorous again. Anything cooked on purple flames must be good! 😉
Looks awesome…I’m sure it tasted great. How is the weather now?
and posting such is killing us lol 😦 *hunger pangs*
Yum! Wish I was there.