Corsican gastronomy

A flavoursome, family cuisine

Traditional Corsican cuisine is based on products produced through farming the mountainous regions: fresh meat, cured meat and cheese from livestock farms (pork, goat, sheep, veal) as well as chestnut groves, honey, garden vegetables, orchard fruit and wild herbs collected along the paths (mint, "nepita", marjoram, thyme, etc.). Hunting spoils provide meals with tasty game (wild boar, blackbirds, partridge...). Coastal parishes cook seafood (rockfish, sea urchins, lobster, etc.) and cultivate vineyards and olive groves on the slopes.

A simple, generous and flavoursome cuisine governed by the seasons and religious events, an occasion for celebratory meals: lamb and kid at Christmas, "Panu di i morti" and "Cacavelli"...

A few Corsican specialities

Corsican cured meats

The Corsican pig "porcu nustrale" lives in the wild in almost total freedom. It feeds on acorns, chestnuts and wild herbs, which give its flesh a very characteristic flavour. "Prisuttu" cured ham, "coppa" shoulder and "lonzu" fillet of pork, salted, dried and aged, were awarded the French Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC Protected Designation of Origin) label, which guarantees their origin and quality.

Corsican cheese

Each region has its own cheese, each producer his own method, recipe and maturing time to manufacture a wide variety of goat or sheep cheese. "Brocciu", a variety of fresh cheese produced using whey, is eaten at the end of meals by itself, with a sprinkling of sugar or infused with eau de vie. Fresh or dry, it is an ingredient in many sweet or savoury recipes ("ambrucciata", "fiadone", "fritelle", "falculelle", omelettes, "cannelloni"…).

Corsican chestnut

A basic ingredient in traditional cuisine, chestnuts are eaten whole (grilled or boiled, in soups and stews) and as a flour used to make many different dishes (fritters, pastries, "pulenta"…). Corsican chestnut flour was awarded the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée de France (AOC Protected Designation of Origin) label.