Growing up amidst the sun-drenched landscapes of Sardinia, chef Francesco Mattana was immersed in a culinary world defined by the freshest local produce. Fish, eels, crabs, sweet potatoes, and red wine were not just ingredients but staples, often caught or grown mere metres from his family home, prepared communally, and shared under the Italian sun.
For Mattana and his fellow Sardinians, food transcends mere sustenance; it is a cherished pastime, a way of life, and a profound opportunity for connection. This deep-rooted philosophy, he contends, is a primary reason why Sardinians enjoy exceptionally long and healthy lives, positioning the region as one of the globe’s distinguished Blue Zones.
“It mainly focuses on fresh seasonal ingredients, healthy fats, but one part of the cuisine as well is that you spend plenty of time cooking and eating together – it’s not just about the actual ingredients, community is part of the cuisine,” Mattana explained.
The term “Blue Zones,” coined by National Geographic explorer Dan Buettner in the early 2000s, identifies global longevity hotspots.
The five official Blue Zones – Okinawa, Japan; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; Loma Linda, California; and Sardinia, Italy – are all characterised by a high number of centenarians leading full, healthy lives. Their longevity is attributed to lifestyles featuring low stress levels, rich social interactions, and high-quality diets.
For Mattana, whose career has spanned chef, teacher, and now cookbook author, Sardinia’s status as a Blue Zone is a source of immense pride. This heritage has profoundly influenced his new recipe book, Eat Like A Sardinian: Live to 100.
“When I was a child, both of my grandads, one was a fisherman and one was a farmer, so I was lucky enough to have the freshest vegetables and meat and the freshest fish,” he recalled. “What I remember very well is my grandad coming back from the fishing village with fresh fish, fresh eels and crabs and all that stuff, going in the back garden in the courtyard with everyone – with all my cousins – and it was like: ‘Francesco, go pick up those crabs running around in the garden!’”
These vivid childhood memories, he says, are indelible. “Those memories, they build up and they stick with me. It was about the produce and the community all together, and I have to be honest, it’s probably hard to imagine somewhere else in the world… it’s hard to have the same feeling.” However, Mattana’s book aims to share this ethos globally: “What I’m trying to bring everywhere else with this book is the ethos. So, you don’t have to be in Sardinia, you don’t have to be anywhere in Italy to eat like this.”
Indeed, Mattana’s work demonstrates that anyone, anywhere, can adopt a Sardinian approach to eating by “seeing food in a different way, not seeing food just as something you put in your stomach.” The initial step, he advises, involves cultivating a relationship with produce – understanding what is in season, what is locally available, and investing time and care into sourcing and preparing food.
“For me, the perfect example in the cookbook is the minestrone… a recipe that we make every single month throughout the whole year,” he noted. “You can have it in springtime with asparagus, with broad beans, with peas… Then you go into summer time, where you can have it with tomatoes and fresh basil.”
Another key element Mattana links to Sardinian longevity is the consumption of raw vegetables. “For us, raw vegetables are a celebration… because you get the best nutrition if you don’t cook them,” he stated. “It’s a celebration of seasonality, and in fact, if you go to any restaurant, you can literally order raw vegetables to the table. Even the fanciest restaurant, you will see it… It’s a massive thing.”
Perhaps most appealingly, Mattana revealed that Sardinians “do drink a lot of wine” – but always “in an environment with everyone. It’s a community spirit, it’s a little glass of red without exaggeration, even every day.” The primary wine consumed is Cannonau, a local Sardinian variety. Its association with the Blue Zone has brought it global recognition, with links to various health benefits such as cardiovascular health, increased longevity, and reduced inflammation.
“We prioritise quality over quantity when it comes to this type of wine… It’s very high in antioxidants – Cannonau has two to three times the amount of flavonoids, a type of antioxidant, compared to any other red wine,” he explained. “In fact, another cool thing to say is that in Sardinia, when we ‘cheers’ with wine, we say ‘A chent’annos’ – to 100 years old.”
Mattana’s ultimate advice for those aspiring to eat, drink, and live to 100 like a Sardinian is to “get out of our comfort zone – try new recipes, new cuisines with ingredients that you know you love.” He champions the “Kilometre 0” concept prevalent in Italy, particularly Sardinia: “Go to your local shop, go to the Sunday farmers’ market, see what’s in season, get excited. Talk to the butcher, talk with the fishmonger. Get advice from them.”
He concludes with a plea for simplicity: “Keep it simple, because if you go with the aspect of using things that are in season and things that haven’t travelled so much to get to you, then you’re really winning, because you know it’s going to be delicious, and you know it’s going to be really good for you, you get the best out of them. So, if you combine those things – making it very simple, inviting people around the table, (and) have fun with it, make mistakes… You can enjoy the process just as much as the result.”
Eat Like a Sardinian: Live To 100 by Francesco Mattana is published in hardback by Murdoch Books, priced £22. Photography by Dave Brown. Available May 28
