{"id":8348,"date":"2026-10-19T23:30:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T14:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8348"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:54","slug":"seadas","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/seadas\/","title":{"rendered":"Seadas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cut through the golden, thin pastry and the warm cheese stretches, as the honey on the surface layers with the saltiness of the milk. Seadas are a Sardinian filled and fried sweet made with flour, cheese, fat, and honey. Making the most of the cheese itself rather than a sweet filling, this sweet carries memories of meals celebrating the return of shepherds. The result changes depending on which milk is used and how the cheese is prepared before wrapping.<\/p>\n

\"Seadas<\/p>\n

An example of seadas. Location and date unknown, Pietro Di Fontana (Photo source<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

A sweet celebrating the shepherds’ return, and ingredients that vary by area<\/h2>\n

Sardinia’s traditional food product record states that women in the Barbagia region prepared this sweet in spring to welcome home shepherds who had grazed their flocks through the cold winter season. Behind the combination of flour, sheep’s milk cheese, fat, and honey in one dish lies this pastoral way of life spanning the seasons. Rooted in the pastoral table, the dish eventually spread as a dessert served warm after meals as well. While it has roots in the Nuoro area, it spread across the whole island.<\/p>\n

In some areas, cow’s milk caciotta is used, not only sheep’s milk pecorino. The method from the Campidano is an example that combines cow’s milk cheese with lemon zest. Some recipes add egg to the pastry, which changes how it stretches and browns compared with pastry kneaded from flour and water alone. Even within a single island dish, the choice of milk and pastry varies.<\/p>\n

Disks of cheese wrapped in thin dough<\/h2>\n

In the basic recipe (ingredient proportions and method), the pastry is made by combining durum wheat semolina with water, lard, and other ingredients, resting the dough, and rolling it out thinly. Lard distributes fat throughout the dough and gives crispness when fried. Rather than kneading in a large amount of sugar and making it rise like a cake, the pastry is finished as a thin layer that still keeps the filling from leaking.<\/p>\n

For the cheese filling, young pecorino is used. In the method recorded in Sardinia’s register of traditional food products, slightly acidic pecorino is grated and warmed over low heat until it becomes a single stringy mass. Citrus zest is mixed in, and the mixture is pressed into disks about 6 centimeters in diameter, dried for several hours, and then wrapped in the thin pastry. Other home recipes fill the pastry directly, without heating the cheese or forming disks. Unlike hard, dry aged cheese, a cheese that softens when heated is chosen. The moisture and softness are adjusted so that the pastry and the filling cook at the same time during frying.<\/p>\n

\"Seadas<\/p>\n

Seadas made at home. Location unknown, 2014, Japs 88 (Photo source<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A seada before honey is poured over it (source Exif dated February 14, 2010; location unknown). The thin pastry has been fried, and the photographer also describes it as one waiting for honey. Photo: Terendo \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ Public domain<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. The photographer has waived rights and provides it in the public domain. No content alterations or cropping made by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Adding the aroma of honey after frying<\/h2>\n

Cheese is placed on a round of cut pastry, a second round is placed on top, and the edges are sealed firmly. The edges are sometimes cut decoratively, but what matters is keeping the cheese that melts inside from leaking out. When fried on both sides in oil, bubbles rise here and there on the thin pastry, and the inside warms and softens.<\/p>\n

To finish, honey or sugar is used. In Sardinia, slightly bitter corbezzolo honey is also used. Beyond simply adding sweetness, it adds a slight bitterness to the flavors of the cheese and pastry. Because the honey is poured on after frying, its aroma stays on the surface.<\/p>\n

The approach of adding sweetness to the flavor of the cheese, rather than replacing it with a sweet filling, has been carried on by modern cooks as well. There is also a savory adaptation filled with artichokes and cheese, and the technique of wrapping and frying is used for both sweets and savory dishes. Seadas made with cheese and honey are enjoyed while warm, savoring the crispness of the pastry and the stretch of the cheese together.<\/p>\n

In the home of Francesca Degosciu in the village of Monti, grated peretta cheese is placed directly between the sheets of pastry. Her mother Tonina, who appears in a record of a 2023 visit, recalls that when she was a child, the family produced honey for their own use and poured it over seadas. Families also differ in whether the honey is warmed before coating the seadas or poured on as it is. Another method that has been handed down is to fry them without turning them over, spooning oil over the top to keep the cheese from oozing out of the pastry.<\/p>\n

\n\"Colurzadas,\n
“Colurzadas” presented by Antonio Marongiu of the Incantos workshop in Narbolia (January 22, 2020; location unknown). According to his own description, it is an adaptation that combines the pastry and filling of seadas with a shape similar to culurgiones. Photo: Antonio Marongiu \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Reduced-size version obtained from Commons. No content alterations or cropping made by us.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

At the Incantos workshop in Narbolia, maker Antonio Marongiu presents an adaptation in which the pastry and filling of seadas are shaped into a form resembling culurgiones, a filled pasta. The name “colurzadas” also combines the names of the two dishes. It is an example that makes use of cheese, citrus, and honey while choosing a way of wrapping different from the round disk.<\/p>\n

Names that vary by area, and an etymological theory linking the name to fat<\/h2>\n

Seadas (seadas<\/em>) is the plural form in Sardinian; a single one is a seada (seada<\/em>). The name varies even within the island: seada in Logudoro and Campidano, sebada (sebada<\/em>) in Nuoro, and sabada (sabada<\/em>) in Sarule.<\/p>\n

In the theory that traces the name to seu<\/em>, meaning fat, or its Nuoro form sebu<\/em>, the name is explained as referring to the sheen of the fried pastry. It is a glossy surface on which frying oil and honey are layered over thin pastry with lard worked into it.<\/p>\n

Flours and cheeses permitted under the geographical indication specification<\/h2>\n

In 2023, names formed by adding “di Sardegna” (“of Sardinia”) to six names, including “sebadas” and “seadas,” were registered as an EU geographical indication. It covers fresh filled pasta processed and packaged on the island and its associated smaller islands.<\/p>\n

The registered specification permits not only sheep’s milk cheese but also goat’s milk and cow’s milk cheeses, as well as cow’s milk curd. For the pastry, soft wheat flour may be used as well as durum wheat flours. Oval shapes are permitted as well as round ones, and lard may range from 0 to 20% of the weight of the pastry. The specification makes broad use of the island’s dairy products and flours. Aroma is added with lemon or orange zest.<\/p>\n

For seadas made by melting the cheese filling in advance, there is also an optional label indicating this older method. The labor-intensive method of shaping the cheese into disks is also carried on under the protected name.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Semolina<\/strong>: Coarsely ground durum wheat flour. Finely ground versions also exist. It is used for noodles, bread, and sweets.<\/p>

Pecorino<\/strong>: A general term for sheep’s milk cheese. Seadas use young, soft ones that have been aged only briefly.<\/p>

Caciotta<\/strong>: A type of small, relatively young cheese made from cow’s milk or other milk.<\/p>

Corbezzolo<\/strong>: A plant also called the strawberry tree. Honey from its flowers has a characteristic bitterness.<\/p>

Campidano<\/strong>: An area centered on the plain in southwestern Sardinia.<\/p>

Geographical indication<\/strong>: A system that protects specific names based on factors such as their link to a place of production.<\/p>

Logudoro<\/strong>: An area in northwestern Sardinia.<\/p>

Nuoro<\/strong>: A city in east-central Sardinia and its surrounding area.<\/p>

Barbagia<\/strong>: An inland mountainous area extending south of Nuoro.<\/p>

Sarule<\/strong>: A town in the Barbagia region.<\/p>

Curd<\/strong>: Milk proteins and other components that have gathered and set. It is the basis of cheesemaking.<\/p>

Francesca Degosciu \/ Tonina<\/strong>: A mother and daughter in the village of Monti on Sardinia. Francesca’s family seadas and her mother Tonina’s memories of beekeeping for the family’s own use are recorded in a 2023 article about a visit.<\/p>

Peretta cheese<\/strong>: The cheese used in the seadas of Francesca’s family. It is grated and wrapped in the dough.<\/p>

Antonio Marongiu<\/strong>: A maker at the Incantos workshop in Narbolia, Sardinia. He has published his own photo of “colurzadas” and an explanation of the adaptation.<\/p>

Culurgiones<\/strong>: A Sardinian filled pasta. The original term is culurgiones, and colurzadas adopt this wrapped shape.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n

  1. \u2022 Carlo Cracco \/ La Cucina Italiana, “Seadas”<\/a> \u2014 Semolina and lard, dairy farming, regional differences in cheese, served warm with honey.\n\u2022 La Cucina Italiana, “Seadas” 2016<\/a> \u2014 Wheat flour, filling grated directly, sugar or honey.\n\u2022 Ylenia Parente \/ La Cucina Italiana, “Seadas salate”<\/a> \u2014 Artichokes and cheese, a modern savory adaptation.\n\u2022 Seadas.it, “Ricetta”<\/a> \u2014 Pastry with egg and two ways of preparing the cheese.\n\u2022 Official Journal of the EU 2023\/C103\/05, seadas specification<\/a> \u2014 Six names and processing on the island, the range of flours and three types of milk, and labeling for melted fillings.\n\u2022 Laore, Sardinian regional agricultural agency, “Sebadas di Sardegna IGP” 2024<\/a> \u2014 Round and oval shapes under the specification, lard at 0\u201320% with the pastry weight as the denominator, and methods for cold and heated fillings.\n\u2022 EU Implementing Regulation 2023\/1426<\/a> \u2014 Registration of the name in 2023.\n\u2022 Autonomous Region of Sardinia, “List of traditional agri-food products,” Sebadas<\/a> \u2014 p.103: the process of warming and drying acidic pecorino, and the scene of celebrating the shepherds’ return home in spring.<\/p><\/li>

  2. \u2022 Giuseppe Izza, La seada, un dolce tra antico e moderno (2009)<\/a> \u2014 Regional names and the etymological explanation from seu\/sebu. The speaker is Giuseppe Izza. The talk also presents a theory of introduction from abroad based on sound similarities with Spanish words for barley and “to feed,” but sound similarity alone cannot establish invention or transmission. The scope of the geographical indication is kept distinct from ordinary household versions.<\/p><\/li>

  3. Sawako Kato \/ Italiazuki, “Mamma’s Recipe: Seadas” (May 5, 2023)<\/a> \u2014 Lines 34\u201399 of the text read directly. Limited to the mother and daughter’s family memories and demonstration; not substituted for general history.<\/li>
  4. Antonio Marongiu, “Colurzadas,” own photo and his own description<\/a> \u2014 Lines 133\u2013139 of the description read directly. The combination of pastry, filling, and wrapped shape, and the shop’s location. Not treated as the island-wide traditional method or as independent proof of the original inventor.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Seadas are a Sardinian fried sweet filled with cheese. Fresh cheese is sealed between two round, thin sheets of pastry, fried golden in oil, and eaten warm with honey poured over it. Beneath the pastry, with its fine bubbles, soft and stretchy cheese appears. Their appeal lies in the milky saltiness that remains inside the sweet coating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7278,"menu_order":119,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Seadas","subtitle":"Sardinia's stretchy cheese in thin fried pastry, fragrant with honey","topics":"Thin pastry wrapping cheese, rather than a sweet dough \/ A pastoral dish comes to the sweet table \/ Honey, the final seasoning","country":"Sardinia, Italy","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["cheese","cream","honey","grain"],"texture":[],"occasion":[],"method":["fried"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[169],"class_list":["post-8348","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t