Porchetta

Porchetta(Italian:[porˈketta]) is a savory, fatty, and moist bonelessporkroast ofItalian culinary tradition. The carcass is deboned andspittedor roasted traditionally over wood for at least eight hours, fat and skin still on. In some traditions, porchetta is stuffed with liver and wild fennel, although many versions do not involve stuffing. Porchetta is usually heavily salted and can be stuffed withgarlic,rosemary,fennel, or other herbs, often wild. Porchetta has been selected by theItalian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policyas aprodotto agroalimentare tradizionale(PAT), one of a list of traditional Italian foods held to have cultural relevance.
Although popular in the whole country, porchetta originated incentral Italy, withAriccia(in theprovince of Rome) being the town most closely associated with it. Elsewhere, it is considered a celebratory dish. Across Italy, porchetta is usually sold bypitchmenwith their typically white-painted vans, especially during public displays or holidays, and it can be served in apanini. It is a common street food in Rome and Lazio served as a filling forpizza bianca(lit.'white pizza'). It is also eaten as a meat dish in many households or as part of a picnic.
Porchetta is one of the two iconic culinary products of theLazioregion, the other being sheep cheesepecorino romano. It is also common inAbruzzo.Porchetta abruzzeseis generally slow-roasted withrosemary,garlic, andpepper.Porchetta fromUmbriais stuffed with the pig's chopped entrails mixed with lard, garlic, salt, and plenty of pepper and wildfennel.
Porchetta trevigiana(fromTreviso) was developed in 1919. In it, a pig is killed at one year old, and its meat is stuffed with salt, pepper, wild fennel, garlic, and white wine. It is then roasted inside an oven for seven hours at 90 °C (194 °F).Porchetta is a popular dish today inVenetian cuisine.
The dish is also a staple ofSardinian cuisine. There it is known asporcedduand is roasted over juniper and myrtle wood fires.
Porquette niçoiseis registered officially as a typical product ofAlpes-Maritimesin the list of dishes ofNiçoise cuisineinscribed asintangible cultural heritageofUNESCO.
In the Niçoise tradition,the stuffing is made with the offal of the piglet (heart, liver, kidneys, andsweetbreads), which are blanched before being cut into strips. These offal parts are mixed withpork loinas well as thyme, bay leaves, garlic, andfennel seeds. After being stuffed, the piglet is marinated overnight in white wine before being cooked. During the cooking process, the piglet's skin is brushed with a mixture of water and honey. In the hinterland ofNice, the same recipe is often made with rabbit.
Porchetta was introduced to the United States byItalian immigrantsof the early 20th century, especially immigrants fromAbruzzo, and is sometimes referred to as "Italianpulled pork", "roast pork", or "Italian roast pork". It is, in many places, served on a sandwich with greens (rapiniorspinach) andprovolone cheese.
In theUpper Midwest, porchetta, more often spelledporketta, was also introduced by Italian immigrants to the iron ranges of Minnesota and Michigan.Porketta remains a popular local dish in towns such asHibbing, Minnesota, with distributors such as Fraboni Sausage.
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