What is in season in Cagliari. and what to order when the market changes.

Spring

  • Violet artichokes: The Campidano artichoke fills Cagliari markets from late winter through spring, and Samassi gives it a four-day sagra in mid-March.
  • Pardulas: The saffron and ricotta tartlet is the Easter bake, baked for Easter and sold from pastry counters across the city through Lent.
  • Sant'Efisio feasting: From 1 to 4 May the city eats around the procession, and restaurants in Stampace and the Marina book out for the departure day.
  • Bluefin tuna: The tuna run reaches the western islands in late spring, which is why Carloforte holds Girotonno at the end of May.

Summer

  • Vermentino: The island white is the summer pour, drunk cold with the Marina fish plates along Via Sardegna and out at the Poetto beach kiosks.
  • Craft beer: Isola Birra fills the Su Siccu pine grove for three July evenings with sixty beers, tasting workshops and street food stalls.
  • Tomato and bottarga: Grated mullet bottarga over spaghetti with summer tomatoes is the simplest Cagliari plate, and the one most kitchens will make on request.

Autumn

  • New olive oil: Sardinian oil is pressed from October, and the first bottles show up on trattoria tables in the Marina before the year is out.
  • Cannonau: The island red comes into its own with autumn roasts, poured by the glass at INU on Via Sassari and Cronta on Viale Diaz.
  • Mushrooms and inland meat: Autumn moves the menus inland, towards the meat cooking of rooms like Sa Domu Sarda on Via Sassari.
  • Saffron: The Campidano saffron harvest lands in November and goes straight into pardulas, malloreddus sauces and Sardinian pastry.

Winter

  • Sea urchins: Ricci were traditionally a winter catch, eaten between November and April, but the Sardinian fishery has been restricted, so spaghetti ai ricci only appears on Marina menus when the rules allow.
  • Porceddu: Suckling pig roasted over myrtle wood is the Christmas centrepiece; most rooms need 24 hours' notice, so order it when you book.
  • Seadas: Fried cheese pastry under bitter honey closes winter meals, and Su Cumbidu on Via Napoli carries it on the menu as seadas al miele.
  • Zippulas: Carnival fritters, twisted and fried in strips, sold from bakery counters across Villanova and Stampace in the weeks before Lent.

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