YOU'D think getting your hands on a batch of homemade olive oil in Italy would be pretty straightforward. Even in lockdown times. But if you're in Sardinia and want the good stuff, you've got to put the work in, says food writer Letitia Clark.
And by 'good stuff' she means olive oil that's passed to you "in an unlabelled petrol container" and is "amazing". The trick, it turns out, is to "know people" and develop a "supply chain of friends who have their own olive groves", she says. Helping out with the harvest boosts your chances too, as does a bit of bartering ("Swap it for wine").
Clark, author of new cookbook Bitter Honey, has lived in Sardinia for almost three years. Born in Devon, her initial plan was to become a writer, but she got to university and realised she spent all her time "procrastinating and cooking, instead of doing my research and working".
After attending the prestigious Leiths cookery school in London, followed by stints at restaurants, where she picked up an interest in Italian-styles of cooking, she fell for her then boyfriend's stories of home – Sardinia – a "forgotten pocket of Italy that's really beautiful and wild and undiscovered".
Fed up with city living ("The life of a chef is pretty intense") and as Clark's interests turned more towards home cooking than restaurant food, they relocated. And although they broke up last year, Clark decided to stay put. "I love everything about [Sardinia]," she explains. "I thought it would be sad to leave and lose everything I'd built."
Bitter Honey captures some of her feelings for the Mediterranean island, as well as the dishes and cookery techniques she's discovered living there.
The book's name, she explains, comes from the rare, slightly bitter honey made by bees from Sardinia's strawberry trees, dotted with tiny red pompom berries – and the contradiction appealed. "Sardinia's a bit of a contradiction as well," says Clark. "Life is full of sweet and sour."
Now based in little rented place in the countryside, Clark is hoping to open up a B&B at some point, host cookery workshops and grow her own vegetables. But she is careful to avoid presenting Sardinia in the book as offering an Instagram-worthy "fantasy lifestyle".
"I don't have an insanely perfect life," she points out. "I don't live in an idyll, I wanted to be realistic." So while the book is sun drenched and golden, it has balance.
"[Sardinia] has parts that are completely like a paradise, but it's also a very human place," Clark explains. "There's a lot of things wrong with it, the same way there are a lot of things wrong with everywhere." However, she can't deny it can be "really charming, funny and eccentric", and the eating culture is definitely something to aspire to.
"Everybody just loves food and sitting down and having a long leisurely lunch with their family," says Clark, "and I think, now more than ever, it's a really good time to enjoy being with people that you love, and spending some quality time together."
The food Clark teases out champions simplicity above all. Take her pasta with butter and cheese recipe, spiked with the earthiness of sage.
"It's the most basic recipe that you've probably been eating your whole life," she explains, unapologetically. "What I love about it is that it's the recipe that teaches you how to make pasta sauce properly.
"When you take out some of the pasta cooking water and you add it to the sauce, it forms this amazing creamy emulsion, without you having to do anything technical or cheffy – it's just a simple trick." It's also the meal she makes herself whenever she's "really tired or had a really bad day, or really hungover!"
Then there's triangles of pecorino roasted with honey and walnuts, ricotta and figs on shards of toasted bread, slow-cooked courgettes with mint, Italian roast chicken, and watermelon granita. Nothing fussy, nothing laborious.
One thing that's particularly striking is the number of dishes that involve deep-frying though, from vegetables (peppers) and herbs (sage leaves) to desserts (seadas – cheese pastry parcels drizzled with honey). "I think every single time I've been to somebody's home for lunch or dinner in Sardinia, I've been given something deep-fried," says Clark.
However, she adds: "It really surprised me how light a lot of it is. It doesn't feel fatty or heavy; it's very much a way of actually preserving freshness because the heat of deep-frying means you seal everything in.
"Instantly, you retain flavour. It's a really underrated cooking method, but it does make your house, and your hair, smell..."
:: Bitter Honey by Letitia Clark, photography by Matt Russell, is published by Hardie Grant, priced £26. Below are three recipes from the book for you to try.
DEEP-FRIED PEPPERS WITH ANCHOVIES AND CAPERS
(Serves 4-6)
500ml olive oil, for frying, plus extra for drizzling
3 large red peppers, deseeded and cut into eighths lengthways
8 anchovy fillets, torn lengthways
1tbsp capers
1tbsp red wine vinegar
Sea salt
A few basil leaves, to serve
Method:
In a frying pan over a medium heat, warm the olive oil and then fry the pieces of pepper until they are completely soft and just beginning to take colour. Remove and drain well on kitchen paper.
Heap the peppers into a mixing bowl and stir through the anchovies, capers and vinegar. Taste for seasoning. They shouldn't need salt as the anchovies are salty but if they are insipid, then add a pinch.
Stir well and leave to sit for at least one hour – even better, three to four hours. Serve at room temperature, scattered with some fresh basil and drizzled with your best oil.
PASTA WITH BUTTER
(For 2 restrained diners, or 1 hungover/fragile one)
220g dried pasta of your choice (I like risoni or any 'short' pasta best)
120g butter
8-10 small sage leaves
70g Parmesan, grated, plus extra to serve
Sea salt
Method:
Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to the boil. Drop in the pasta. Place the butter in a wide, shallow pan and put on the lowest heat. Add the sage and cook for a moment or so to gently to release the aromas. Drain the pasta when it is at your perfect al dente, reserving a cup of the cooking liquid.
Add half the cooking water and the pasta to the pan with the butter and sage and turn up the heat. Stir and toss well for a minute or so, then add the cheese and toss again and again, until an emulsified and silky sauce forms. If it looks too dry, add more of the cooking water, too wet, carry on cooking. Serve with more cheese.
BLOOD ORANGE CAKE RECIPE WITH RICOTTA, POLENTA AND OLIVE OIL
(Serves 8-10)
For the base:
1-2 blood oranges
100g demerara sugar
For the batter:
200ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing
200g caster sugar
Pinch of sea salt
250g ricotta
Zest and juice of 4 small blood oranges
Juice and zest of 1 large lemon
4 eggs
100g polenta
150g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin. First, prepare the base of the cake. Wash the oranges and slice them into 2mm discs with a very sharp knife (you can use a mandoline or a slicer if you have them). I leave the rind on, as when cooked like this it becomes edible, but if you prefer you can remove it.
In a small saucepan over a medium heat, melt the demerara sugar with two tablespoons water until it has dissolved. Simmer for a few minutes until the syrup begins to caramelise (you should smell and see the colour change to a light amber). Pour your syrup over the bottom of the cake tin. Arrange the slices of blood orange, as many as will fit in one layer in a pleasing pattern, on top of the syrup.
To make the batter, whisk the oil, sugar, salt, ricotta, citrus juice and zest together in a large mixing bowl. Add in the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth. Add in the dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden and just set.
Allow the cake to cool for five minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the tin and invert onto a wire rack or serving plate. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
