Corsican cuisine

Corsican specialties, from the mountain in the sea

Exploring Corsican gastronomy is a journey that combines authenticity and tradition.

Products of Corsica's terroir

Deli meats in Corsica are produced by mountain craftsmen and made essentially from Nustrale pork, a local breed raised in semi-liberty. Make sure to taste the various cured meats, especially figatellu di Corsica, coppa, lonzu and prisuttu. Other mountain specialties: olive oil, maquis (wild shrubs native to the Mediterranean region) honey and chestnut flour, the latest used as a base for dishes like pulenda, a chestnut-floured polenta.

Cheese

As for cheese, the most famous is the brocciu, a whey cheese produced from sheep or goat milk. Labelled AOC since 1998, it is can be savoured in many dishes including cannelloni and strudels.

Corsican sweets

Fiadone is the emblematic Corsican dessert, a delicious brocciu and lemon-based cake. Indulge also in canistrellis, sweetly perfumed dry biscuits, then top off your meal with a Corsican clementine, the only clementine grown in France.

Traditional Corsican drink

As an aperitif, have a wine-based Cap Corse, prepared with macerated oranges and quinquina, or try a Pietra instead, a local chestnut-flavoured beer. The regional wines are like the island, that is to say, eclectic. Select a white Vermentino of Balagne (AOC Corse Calvi) with a fresh octopus salad, a Sciaccarello Rosé (AOC Ajaccio) with a plate of cold cuts or pair a Cap Corse Muscat (a natural sweet wine) with fiadone.

Savour Corsican specialties

Handcrafted products: two stores in the South of the island sell deli products, cheeses, wines and more: Orriu in Porto-Vecchio, and Tempi Fà in Propriano.
Grimaldi Chocolatier (in Corte, Bastia and Ajaccio): at this renowned chocolate, pastry and confectioner's shop, treat yourself to falculelle, brocciu-based sweets baked on chestnut leaves.
Charcuterie Pascal Flori: a high end cured meat production based in Murato, on the heights of Saint-Florent.

Ajaccio