The best local producers Haute-Corse

It's anyone's guess whether the Guidoni family deliberately chose to make their home on the airport road, the one that smacks of the nostalgia of returning from vacation! In any case, it's an ideal place to make the last purchases that will fill your suitcases. The members of the Guidoni clan are breeders, producers, butchers and charcutiers. A sure bet for anyone wanting to buy salciccia (sausage), panzetta or lonzu, among other cheeses, canistrelli and other local culinary delights!

After spending three years in her uncle's laboratory, Laurine Serra took over the business to turn it into a reference point, dedicated to Cervione hazelnuts. Here, hazelnuts are transformed into sweet (spreads, honey and hazelnut delicacies, hazelnut cream, etc.) and savory (hazelnut flour, hazelnut oil, etc.) dishes. Salinu is the star of the store and is sold all over the island. It's a condiment made from salt (10%) and hazelnuts (90%), ideal for salads and soups. A Corsican must-have!

U Paese has been perpetuating the know-how of the island's craftsmen for nearly thirty years. Sonia offers figatelli, coppa, lonzu, sausages, prizuttu, ventrè piènu... a quality pork butcher's shop which carries the colours of Castagniccia, but also goat's and ewe's milk cheeses from shepherds, brocciu, chestnut flour, liqueurs, not forgetting the inevitable olive oil. A great selection of Corsican wines of high quality: organic farming and / or biodynamic for the pleasure of the real and taste. A shop to see urgently!

Four generations have worked in the Casanova family cookie factory, nestled in the heart of the immemorial Balinese mountains. Founded at the end of the ^19th century, the house has never ceased to exhale the fragrance of its refined sweets, in its island of beauty and beyond. Guided by the age-old fragrance, gourmets will be able to explore the production unit located under the family home, to learn about the many secrets of manufacturing or to taste the tasty cookies of the day. A moment of bliss at the top!

Certainly the most beautiful citron plantation on the island. The site is welcoming and houses an eco-museum dedicated to this local species, and is animated by Xavier Calizi, passionate and inexhaustible about the citron. Visit the plantation of the emblematic citrus fruit of the island, taste the products (candied citron, liqueurs, jams), let yourself be tempted by the citron beer and dare to try the can of sardine with citron. A pedestrian circuit goes through the citrus orchard of Calizi.

This typical sun-drenched building is home to the artisanal biscuit factory Salvatori, established over fifty years ago. In the workshop adjacent to the shop are made small biscuits, and not just any biscuits: the canistrellis, typical of the area. Crunchy and without eggs, they come in many flavours: almond, hazelnut, aniseed, amaretti, chestnut, lemon, chocolate chips, vanilla-caramel? Another flagship product is the softer, softer tourtellinis. The moment of pleasure: drink a coffee accompanied by a canistrelli on the terrace of the shop.

After a few years of operation, Joseph Rioli switched from the traditional press to the continuous chain in 1995. This modernization allows him to press up to 400 tons of olives each year. He runs a 6 ha estate where varieties such as ghjermana, Sabine or picholine are grown. Two PDO oils result from this: the mill of Prunete (olives picked on the tree, a blend of ghjermana, sabine and picholine) and the olive oil of the convent of Cervione (olives picked on a net after their natural fall, predominantly ghjermana).

François Andreani farms a small area of ten hectares, surrounded by hazelnut trees, orchards and scrub, with olive trees of the local ghjermana variety. The olives are picked when ripe, directly from the tree. Its oil, marketed under the brand name A Merula (meaning the blackbird in Corsican, a bird that is very fond of olives!), is produced in its own mill: the olives are crushed the day after the harvest. Certified PDO Oliu di Corsica, it was awarded the silver medal at the Salon de l'Agriculture in 2012.

Corsica runs through Françoise Ottavi's veins, and excellence is her touchstone. Mastering the art of sublimating vinegar, she transforms every fruit into a culinary jewel. Her Oliu Ottavi, the multi-primed gourd of yellow gold, has made it into the Collège Culinaire de France while she distills organic citron and fig. Insatiable, this inspired spirit continues to innovate with her "culinary curiosities": an alchemy of fruits, vegetables and spices cooked in a cauldron. A prestigious "extraction" of the Corsican soul by a boiling imagination!

Do you want to discover the roots of Corsica through its labeled regional products? The Routes of the Authentic Senses guide you for discoveries high in flavors. Deeply attached to their land, passionate men and women offer you the warmth of a traditional welcome and the guarantee of an original product. In these places with a strong identity, ancestral know-how and modernity are combined for a perfect harmony between authenticity and quality.

Isabelle Orsi created the first olive farm on Cap Corse in 1997, with 4 hectares of old endemic olive trees. She then decided to stop producing oil and devote herself to 100% organic infusions, aromatic herbs and Sisco onions. You can buy these products on site and take the opportunity to discover the estate. Isabelle will be handing over her farm and her know-how to a young buyer in two years' time.

A tasty address. Jean-David and Dominique Sommovigo organically farm chestnut and hazelnut trees, as well as citrus, fig, myrtle, immortelle and other maquis plants, and even aloe vera. The farm store offers a wide range of gourmet products, including jams, cakes and canistrelli, as well as natural cosmetics made on site. Visits to plantations by appointment. Tastings available.

In 2008, Emilie and Ivo started olive growing. In 2013, they built the Oltremonti Mill on their 5-hectare AB-certified plot of land, which allows them to fully control their production. Result: a range of 6 virgin or extra virgin olive oils, and 3 olive oil-based condiments. The Mill won the silver medal at the 2017 New York International Olive Oil Competition. The oils are made from the same variety of Corsican olive, the Ghjermana, which is harvested at different times, offering different flavors.

The Macchia boutique specializes in Corsican products such as honeys, tapenades and herbs. You'll find a wide selection of products, from myrtle berries to basil and citrus peels.

This orchard, created with her father in 1994, covers 10 hectares. Trained in wine tasting, Anne retranscribes her know-how with the oil she produces either as a single variety or through blending. There are three oils on the estate: the AOP Oliu di Corsica (sweet fruity and ghermana) and, more atypical, the wild fruity, from the sabine variety. All have a common characteristic: they are made from olives that are pressed very quickly after harvesting in order to retain all the primary aromas. One of the best oils in the region!

Trained in the art of macaroons at Lenôtre and then at Hermé, Anne Marchetti went to La Trinité and then to Piedigrioggio to present her range of exceptional biscuits. Fruity, chocolate, floral or vegetable, her macaroons are a delight for gourmets and gourmands. Her work is growing and she is now known all over the island and far beyond. Shop on the roadside that links Bastia to the west coast of the island. No excuses then, it will certainly be on your way!

This 6-hectare estate, owned by the Marfisi family, includes over 1,000 olive trees. The varieties are typical of the region: germaine de Casinca, germaine de Tallano and sabine. The trees are cultivated using integrated farming methods. A special feature is that the fruit is harvested from the tree before it falls naturally, giving the oil a vegetal aroma and a peppery touch. The estate also produces a black tapenade, made entirely on the property.

The Ottavi family cheese dairy produces a small number of goat's and sheep's cheeses. Our star product is our multi-award-winning Tomme de Brebis. This hard cheese reveals even more flavor when served with fig jam, or figs with walnuts, on a slice of farmhouse bread. Other products include u fium'orbu (a soft cheese) made from goat's or sheep's milk, which can be bought as a spread or in portions for goat's milk cheese, or fior' di machja made from sheep's milk. Extraordinary products!

Equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and with a hundred members, this cooperative produces a top-of-the-range oil, marketed under the name "Oru di Balagna", the gold of Balagne. It comes from several varieties of olives, mainly sabine and germaine, from olive trees several hundred years old. Designated the best olive oil in France by the magazine 60 millions de consommateurs, it is also regularly awarded at the Salon International de l'Agriculture.

Also a teacher, Serge Cagninacci has been a beekeeper for 25 years out of passion. In the honey house in the heart of his village of Urtaca, he offers a PDO honey produced with respect for Corsican traditions and bees in sustainable beekeeping and awarded at the Miels de France competition. The sedentary beehives at an altitude of 400 m express the nobility of the Ostriconi and the cold extraction guarantees the excellence of the products and the flavors: summer scrub, spring scrub or scrub honeydew, three characters to discover and enjoy!