The geographic position of the district of Oristano is a determining factor for the local food and wine. The sea, the lagoons, the fertile plain fed by the River Tirso and the mountains all contribute to making the area a rich gourmet experience for visitors, who are offered an incredible variety of unique dishes to sample.

Bread

• Su coccoi
  very fine bread made from hard wheat which is baked in unusual shapes. At Easter the bread is prepared with a hard boiled egg incorporated in it.
  
  
• Su civraxiu
  very fine bread made from hard wheat, baked in large loaves with a circular base. It has a hard crust and a soft centre.
  
  
• Su moddizzosu
  traditional very fine bread made from hard wheat.
  
  
• Pane carasau
  wafer thin slices of bread, baked twice, so that it keeps for a long time without going stale.

Starters

• La bottarga
  an ancient speciality, also known as Sardinian caviar. The roe from the quality mullet fish which abound in the area's lagoons is collected and salted, it is then hung up outside to dry. It can be eaten in slices with the delicious extra virgin olive oil from the area or used grated as a pasta sauce.
  
  
• I salumi di montagna
  the cold meats in Sardinia are still prepared in a very simple, traditional way. The meat used is pork or wild boar meat, which is salted, spiced and left to mature for a long time. The area boasts exceptional sausages, ham and bacon.

First courses

• Culurgionis
  ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese and chard or fresh cheese and chard, served with a tomato sauce and pecorino sardo (Sardinian sheep's cheese).
  
  
• Maccarones de busa
  hard grain pasta, served with a ragù sauce made from lamb, veal or wild boar meat.
  
  
• Malloreddus alla campidanese
  typical, home-made, Sardinian pasta, served in a tomato sauce with sausage and pecorino sardo (Sardinian sheep's cheese).
  
  
• Sa fregula
  (small balls of hard grain pasta, similar to the Arab cous cous), served in a clear soup with clams.
  
  
• Su ministru
  a clear soup dish with hard grain pasta, flavoured with bacon.

Main courses

• Pesci arrosto
  a selection of grilled fresh fish. The most common to the Oristano area are: mullet fish, eels, gilthead bream, sea bass and sargo.
  
  
• Anguidda incasada
  eels cooked in a bread casing.
  
  
• Burrida
  dog fish cooked with garlic, parsley, vinegar and walnuts.
  
  
• Sa merca
  a very characteristic dish with mullet fish. The fish is boiled, then smoked and wrapped in the leaves of a marshland grass (zibba), which keep it fresh for a number of days.
  
  
• Panada di anguille
  a savoury pie stuffed with eels, but it can also be made with meat or vegetables.
  
  
• Roast baby lamb, boiled lamb, roast suckling pig, roast lamb and lamb stew with lemon and eggs.

Products from the land

The particular climate of the Oristano plains brings out the unique flavours and aromas of the local fruit and vegetables. The area is especially noted for its production of tomatoes, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines and thistles.

Desserts

• Gueffus, candelaus, amaretti
  biscuits made from almonds.
  
  
• Gateau
  a hard biscuit-cake made from almonds, honey or sugar.
  
  
• Mustazzolus
  a typical dessert from the area made from concentrated wort, flour, yeast and sugar.
  
  
• Papassini
  small pastries glazed with icing.
  
  
• Pardulas
  pastries stuffed with ricotta cheese or fresh cheese, eggs, sugar and flour, aromatised with Sardinian saffron.
  
  
• Seadas
  fried crépes stuffed with fresh cheese and served with a honey topping.

Cheese

Besides the soft cows' milk cheeses and the various types of semi-mature and mature sheep's cheese, there is also "su casizzolu", a typical cheese from Montiferru, which until recently was only known locally. However, its delicious flavour and texture have meant that in the last few years it has become very popular even outside the island's boundaries. It is made entirely from the milk of a native species of Sardinian cow, which lives free range. Demand for this cheese has increased so much that five small dairies have recently sprung up in Santulussurgiu.