Corsican cuisine

Corsican cuisine is the traditional cooking of the island of Corsica, built mainly on local produce. For historical and geographical reasons it shares much with Italian cooking, and to a lesser degree with the cuisines of Nice and Provence.

History

Corsica's terrain shaped its diet from antiquity. The low, malaria-ridden eastern coast was hard to defend, so people settled in the mountainous interior. Exports in Roman times included sheep, honey, wax and tar, and the island was known for its inexpensive wines.

In the Middle Ages, under Pisan rule, large-scale migration from Tuscany brought the language, customs and dishes of that region. Later, under Genoese control, a 1548 decree required landowners and tenants to plant chestnut, mulberry, olive and fig trees. Chestnuts spread across the island and by the 18th century had largely replaced cereals, with bread, porridge and cakes made from them forming the staple diet until the early 20th century.

After the French annexation of 1768, many chestnut woods were felled and cereals were favoured. The eradication of malaria after the Second World War emptied the interior further and accelerated the abandonment of traditional produce.

Culture

Chestnuts remain central to Corsican identity. They were dried for weeks over a wood fire, ground into smoky flour, and used for polenta and cakes. Chestnut flour now holds AOC and AOP status, and the fairs at Bocognano and Évisa give pride of place to the product.

Cheese is also important. Brocciu, a whey cheese similar to ricotta, is made mostly from sheep's milk and appears in dishes from starters to desserts. Today's cooking combines these traditional products with the demand of visitors seeking local flavours.