UNTIL I WAS 15 YEARS OLD, THE FRENCH island of Corsica was but a footnote in my history book. Like all French schoolchildren, I knew it was Napoleon's birthplace. We read 19th-century tales of tragic vendettas and learned folk songs describing the Corsicans as a passionate people whose family honor had to be defended to the death. The jagged, inland mountains, we were told, were once the hiding place for bandits and for locals escaping the endless stream of foreign invaders. (Today the mountains hide black-clad old women who gather fragrant herbs for love potions that are sold to tourists.)

Then one spring vacation, I was sent to Corsica to visit my godmother, who lived in Bastia, Corsica's chief port. An amphitheater of old buildings rose above the harbor, where small fishing boats bobbed at the docks. My godmother often had me do her shopping at the open market on the Place de l'Hotel de Ville. Local farmers sold their smoked hams -- similar to prosciutto but with a more pronounced flavor -- wild boar sausage, fresh herbs, red and white beans and the local goat's-milk cheese, called brocciu, both fresh and aged. The cafes were filled with locals sipping red wine and eating bread with thick slabs of pate de grives (thrush) and briny green Corsican olives.

Corsican cuisine is as rugged as its landscape, and greatly influenced by the island's many aggressors over the years -- the Romans, who used it as a base for their conquest of Gaul, the Spanish and the Genoese, who governed it for 400 years. (The latter left the Corsican coast dotted with citadels like Bastia, Calvi, Ajaccio, Porto-Vecchio and St.-Florent; ruins of the old bastions are as much a part of Corsica's landscape as the rocky coast they guard.) Chestnuts, which are plentiful on the island and a Corsican staple, are roasted, ground into flour or used as a base for nourishing soup. Minestra is another traditional Corsican soup, made with beans, cabbage, smoked ham and potatoes. Corsicans also prepare fresh noodle dough for a ravioli stuffed with smoked ham, Swiss chard and brocciu; their chickpeas and rice dishes have a Spanish flavor, and their pates and seafood dishes taste distinctly like those of the French mainland.

Walking through Bastia's narrow, winding streets, I would stop first at a bakery to buy falculella (a type of cheesecake baked on chestnut leaves) or a hot pumpkin beignet (a very light yeast dough, mixed with pumpkin and deep-fried). Then I would choose an aged brocciu from among the piles of cheeses at the market. My godmother used it to make a tart, mixing the sharp cheese with mint and layering it with pork liver sausage into a pastry crust. She served the tart on Sunday evenings with a green salad.

My most vivid Corsican memory is of driving through the moonlike expanse of the Agriates desert on shearing day. After we watched the shepherds handle the bleating lambs, everyone gathered at the farm. We ate thick slices of country rye bread spread with roasted garlic and sprinkled with pungent olive oil and feasted on sauteed lamb with green olives and fresh brocciu. Stories were told in a strange, musical language that I longed to understand while we nibbled on roasted chestnuts.

I rediscovered Corsica a few years ago, only to find that the island has remained unchanged. The aroma of hot beignets still hangs in the air; at the market the brocciu is still piled high near the wild boar sausage, and the ghost of its greatest son still haunts the citadels. CHESTNUT SOUP 2 quarts chicken bouillon or stock 2 8-ounce jars roasted, peeled chestnuts 3 ounces lean smoked slab bacon, cut in 3 pieces 3 sprigs fresh fennel, plus a few sprigs for garnish Salt to taste Freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 pint goat's milk or goat yogurt like Yo-Goat.

1. In a large saucepan, bring the chicken bouillon to a boil over high heat. Add the chestnuts, bacon, fennel, salt and pepper. Simmer over medium-low heat for 40 minutes. Remove the saucepan from heat. Discard the bacon.

2. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chestnuts from the broth and place them in a food processor. Add about 2 cups of the broth and process to a smooth puree. Add additional broth, if needed. Pour the puree back into the saucepan with the remaining broth. Add the goat's milk or yogurt and stir well to combine. Correct the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if desired. Heat gently and serve garnished with fresh fennel sprigs.

Yield: Six servings. SAUTEED LAMB WITH GREEN OLIVES 1/2 pound small green olives 6 large tomatoes 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 pounds lamb (1 pound of neck and 3 pounds of boneless leg of lamb), cut into serving-size pieces 1 tablespoon flour 3 bay leaves 2 sprigs fresh thyme 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with the side of a heavy knife Salt to taste Freshly ground black pepper to taste 2 tablespoons chopped parsley for garnish.

1. Pit the olives and blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 2 minutes, then refresh them under cold water. Peel, quarter and seed the tomatoes and set aside.