Porchetta
Encyclopedia
Porchetta porˈketːa is a savory, fatty, and moist boneless pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....

 roast of Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 culinary tradition. The body of the pig is gutted, deboned, arranged carefully with layers of stuffing, meat, fat, and skin, then rolled, spitted, and roasted, traditionally over wood. Porchetta is usually heavily salted in addition to being stuffed with garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...

, rosemary
Rosemary
Rosemary, , is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae, which includes many other herbs, and is one of two species in the genus Rosmarinus...

, fennel
Fennel
Fennel is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves...

, or other herbs, often wild. Porchetta has been selected by the Italian Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali as a "prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale
Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale
Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale , in Italy, is a list of traditional regional food products similar to the Protected Geographical Status...

" ("traditional agricultural-alimentary product", one of a list of traditional Italian foods held to have cultural relevance).

In Italy

Although popular in the whole country, porchetta originated in central Italy, with Ariccia
Ariccia
Ariccia is a town and comune in the Province of Rome, central Italy. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs...

 (in the Province of Rome
Province of Rome
The Province of Rome , is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. The province can be viewed as the extended metropolitan area of the city of Rome, although in its more peripheral portions, especially to the north, it comprises towns surrounded by rural landscape.-Geography:The Province of Rome...

) being the town most closely associated with it. Elsewhere, it is considered a celebratory dish. Across Italy porchetta is usually sold by pitchmen with their typically white-painted vans, especially during public displays or holidays, and it can be served in a panino
Panino
Panini are small, filled, bread rolls, which are sometimes toasted. They are Italian in origin, but now found in other countries.In Italy, panino is the word for a sandwich made with a bread roll. Sandwiches there are customarily made from a roll or loaf of bread, typically a ciabatta or a rosetta...

. It is also eaten as a meat dish in many households or as part of a picnic.

Porchetta is one of two iconic culinary products of the Lazio region, the other being the sheep cheese pecorino romano
Pecorino Romano
Pecorino Romano is a hard, salty Italian cheese, suitable primarily for grating, made out of sheep milk . Pecorino Romano was produced in Latium up to 1884 when, due to the prohibition issued by the city council of salting the cheese inside their shops in Rome, many producers moved to the island of...

.

Porchetta from Umbria
Umbria
Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...

 is stuffed with the pig's chopped entrails mixed with lard, garlic, salt and plenty of pepper and wild fennel.

Porchetta trevigiana (from Treviso
Treviso
Treviso is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants : some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city...

) was born in 1919. In it, pig is slaughtered when one year old, then its meat is stuffed with salt, pepper, wild fennel, garlic and white wine. It is then roasted inside a oven for seven hours at 200 °C. The porchetta is today a popular dish in Venetian cuisine
Venetian cuisine
Venetian cuisine has a centuries-long history, and it is significantly different from the other cuisines of North Italy as well as neighbouring Austria and Slavic countries, despite having something in common with all these.- Overview :Venetian cuisine may be divided into three main kinds of...

.

Abroad

Porchetta was introduced to the USA by Italian immigrants of the early 20th century, and is sometimes referred to as "Italian pulled pork
Pulled pork
Pulled pork is a form of barbecue in which pork, usually shoulder cut or mixed cuts, is cooked using a low-heat, long-cook method. With these extended times at low temperatures, the meat becomes tender enough that its weakened connective tissue allows the meat to be "pulled", or easily broken into...

". It is in many places served on a sandwich with greens (broccoli raab or spinach
Spinach
Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...

) and—controversially—provolone
Provolone
Provolone is an Italian cheese that originated in Southern Italy, where it is still produced in various shapes as in 10 to 15 cm long pear, sausage, or cone shapes. A variant of Provolone is also produced in North America and Japan...

 cheese.

Porchetta is celebrated in the form of a Sagra every July in Austin
Austin
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

Porchetta is also very popular in Southern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 (in areas such as Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Hamilton and St. Catharines) and the term "porchetta" is widely used by Italian-Canadians, instead of simply "roast pork". Porchetta (porketta) is also popular in the upper Midwest having been brought to the Michigan and Minnesota Iron ranges by Italian immigrants.

"Porketta Bingo" is a very popular Saturday afternoon activity at various establishments in Sudbury, Ontario. Players donate $2.00 per round of play and receive a laminated set of three regular playing cards. Cards are drawn until a player matches their three cards. Game winners receive 1 pound of Porketta roast and a sourdough bun. Each round lasts 6 games and there are usually between 4 to 7 rounds depending on the establishment. Proceeds of Porketta Bingo usually go to a local charity or are donated to local hockey associations.

In Australia and New Zealand La Porchetta is an Italian restaurant chain that specialises is pizzas and pastas.

External links


A complete how to page on making Porchetta
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