Cuisine of Sardinia
The cuisine of Sardinia is the traditional cuisine of the island of Sardinia, and the expression of its culinary art. It is characterised by its own variety, and by the fact of having been enriched through a number of interactions with the other Mediterranean cultures while retaining its own identity. Sardinia's food culture is strictly divided into food from the land and food from the sea, reflecting the island's historical vicissitudes and especially its geographic landscapes, spacing from the coastline to the ragged mountains of the interior. The Sardinian cuisine is considered part of the  Mediterranean diet, a nutritional model that was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage. Inland and mountain food. First courses. Here are some typical first courses: Sweets. Even desserts, like the other products of Sardinian gastronomy, vary considerably from region to region. Here are the most known ones: Wine. Several vineyards are present in every corner across the island, from the Campidanese and coastal plains, to the hilly and mountainous highlands. The particular composition of the soil and the sunny climate allow for high quality productions. The long winemaking tradition has its roots in the Nuraghic past, and from  then on it did not suffer any interruptions since the island never fell under Arab rule, and thus the Islamic prohibition on alcohol did not affect Sardinia at all; on the contrary, winemaking saw a major increase in the Byzantine and the Judgedoms period. Today, there are 15 IGT, 19 DOC and 1 Docg wines on the island. The Cannonau is a typical sardinian red wine very rich in phenols made from Grenache grapes - perfect for red meats. Cheese. One of the popular cheeses of the area is casu marzu, a Sardinian sheep's milk cheese that contains live maggots  to help assist the fermentation of the cheese.