Monthly Archives April 2018

Situated in the centre of the island, and at the foot of the Monte Rotondo – this town steeps in history, and has been referred to more than once, as the ‘heart and soul’ of Corsica, also becoming the choice for the island’s university.

A notable and interesting reminder remains the fact that during Pasquale Paoli’s reign, Corte was once capital of the island during a lapse of independence between 1755-69...

‘Bastelle‘ is a typical Corsican delicacy, and highly appreciated on the island. They can be easily found at the markets, fairs and bakeries. For this particular recipe, we will only be using the green (leaf) of the chard. Popular with children too, an extra idea for lunchtime in case of need.

There are variants of course: marrow and onion – most of the time you will see all choices for sale.

Ingredients:

– 1 bunch chard
– 200g brocciu
– 1 or 2 puff pastry (or homemade dough)
– salt and pepper

Method:

Cook the chard beforehand. Cut out circles in the dough, the size will depend on how big/small you wish your bastelle to be. Cut up the chard greens and if you wish to add onions to the recipe, you can do so by first of all browning them in a frying pan...

When someone returns to Corsica after years of absence, I find it it is always of interest to hear what they have to say. This happens to be the case of Richard Falchi, who had spent most of his life on the mainland, and decided to return to his native island in 2015 – his family are originally from the village of Balogna, not far from Ajaccio – and of which I wrote in detail some time ago as the village street art has always been quite impressive. 

Musician since he was fourteen years of age whilst studying, he left the ‘high plateau’ of the Ardèche region for England in order to perfect his English, and remained there for several months. But when he did return to France, he had in fact become a drummer. Furthering his studies, he attended a French school for press attaché.

Being a pass...