It looks like couscous, but it is wholly Sardinian: fregola is one of the best things you can order here.
It is made from durum wheat semolina worked by hand into small balls and then toasted in the oven, and it is precisely the toasting that gives it its golden colour and that aroma you recognise at once. The cooking is that of a risotto: the fregola absorbs the broth and releases starch, until it becomes creamy.
The queen version, on the island, is with clams: a tasty sea sauce, a little tomato, parsley, and that consistency that makes you mop up the plate without shame. It is a fishermen’s dish that has become a must, simple and generous like the sea it comes from.
