Antonio Spada and Natalio Tanda have been making pasta since 1988.
They have now been joined by their two sons and the quality of their product is dependant on two things: ingredients and the speed of manufacture.
Top quality Sardinian durum wheat flour and mineral water are used to make a dough that is then kneaded at length and extruded slowly through bronze dies, not slippery, Teflon coated ones. The pasta dries out naturally for between 15-20 hours in warm rooms called caldaia instead of being speed dried with hot air.
The resulting pasta has a fabulous texture and flavour. In 1999 Tanda e Spada started their organic range which uses Sardinian durum wheat flour grown without pesticides or artificial fertilisers. Only their flavoured pastas are not organic - they are made with the same flour but the chilli and squid ink used are not certified.
Dried pasta with egg is only produced commercially as the dough is very firm and needs to be worked with a machine to be successful. Ours comes from near Perugia and is so good that only an expert would be able to tell it isn’t fresh. English people tend to see pasta merely as a vehicle for a sauce but pasta of this quality, however, should be appreciated for its own flavour and texture as much as the sauce that goes with it.
Sarda Affumicati
Smoking and curing fish is an ancient Sardinian tradition and continues today in the small coastal town of Buggeru where Ignazio and Quirino Coghe have been preserving wild fish for many years.
Throughout the spring, tuna and swordfish swim close to the island to spawn and their little factory is kept very busy processing the fish that are brought in daily by the local fishermen. Mosciame (mojame in Spain) is the name given to the cured loin of tuna which is soaked in salt, washed and wind dried for 20 days to only 30% of its original size. Bresaola di tonno is the same cut but moist cured for a shorter time while bottarga is the salted, pressed roe.
Behind the factory their vegetable patch grows artichokes, peppers and tomatoes which are hand stuffed with the fish and sold sott’olio (in oil) throughout the year. Smoked swordfish and eel are personal favourites and complete a product list of exceptional quality.
