With Saboris Antigus 2024 Sardinia and Crete shared the same flavours, as the islands were gastronomically twinned.
Sardinia and Crete have a common heritage
Trexenta and Sarcidano, the historical regions of central-southern Sardinia, recently organized a weekend of events on the eve of the debut of the new edition of Saboris Antigus. During this cycle of food and people events the link between Sardinian and Cretan culture were investigated and celebrated. The theatre for this two-day October intercultural connection were Nurri and Selegas with food becoming a means of storytelling, a vehicle for building ties, and an instrument for relations between apparently distant territories.
Similar local products on both islands
Crete - which has also been elected European Region of Gastronomy for 2026 - shares not just a rich cultural and archaeological heritage with Sardinia, but also an agricultural and cereal vocation of excellence that has allowed it to build a culinary tradition that has many points in common with Sardinia. For example, the Cretan Chodro (in Greek, χόνδρο), a typical product of the local cuisine, is a kind of pasta made with sour milk and coarse wheat and very similar to the Sardinian Fregula. Then there are the different types of bread, as well as products such as snails and olive oil, of which both islands can boast a historical production of excellence.
Synergies for future promotions
During the event Cretan chefs, together with their Sardinian colleagues, demonstrated the ancient similarity between the two islands, accompanied by a food anthropologist. The aim of the twinning, in addition to building an intercultural connection and a better understanding of the similarities and differences between two island traditions is also to build a solid interrelation between the two islands, creating a series of joint promotion and exchange activities, of which this first meeting was both a model and a starting point.
