Smoked hams, roast lamb and suckling pig, seasoned with juniper and aromatic herbs and cooked over an open fire are time-honored staples of Sardinian cooking and remain so to this day among Sardinia's rural communities. More recently, however, partly in response to the growth of tourism at the island's coastal resorts, there has been a shift away from hearty meat dishes in favor of the island's excellent seafood.

Finer quality seafood than that which abounds off the shores of Sardinia, it is hard to imagine. The heightened salinity of the Mediterranean and the cleanliness of Sardinian waters impart a delicacy of flavor rarely to be found on this side of the Atlantic. The preparation of seafood in a dazzling array of styles is a gastronomic art form at which Sardinia's chefs excel.

Sardinians are equally inventive when it comes to baking bread. It is said that every Sardinian village produces its own unique style of bread and the choice is seemingly endless. Pane carasau, which poetically translates as "music paper," is the best known version. In its unbaked form it is indeed as thin as a sheet of music.

Thanks to the prevalence of sheep and goats in the island's interior (sheep exceed Sardinia's human population by a ratio of more than two to one), Sardinia also produces some excellent local cheese, the piquant-tasting pecorino sardo.

With its stylish wines and splendid local cuisine, Sardinia is an irresistible destination no self-respecting epicure can afford to ignore.