To make porchetta in Chianti, you start with a big pig – some say it should be at least 120kg! This is not a suckling pig we’re cooking, it’s the real thing!
Porchetta – Tuscan roast pork
The pig is carefully deboned and dressed with abundant rosemary, fennel and garlic, and filled with its own minced sweet meats, although the liver and kidneys are usually left intact. It is then cooked over a wood fire for anywhere between 6 and 8 hours. Once cold, it is sliced and usually eaten in the form of a sandwich.
Porchetta is frequently available on market day in towns such as Greve in Chianti, Panzano and Castellina. When ordering your sandwich, you’ll be asked to specify how lean or fatty (grassa) you want the meat, whether you want garlic (aglio) and the other herbs, and a piece of crackling (crosta) or not.
More about Tuscan porchetta.
More about eating out in Tuscany.
About Elena Spolaor
Although Elena was born in Venice, she was brought up in Tuscany and is a historian and frequent contributor to online articles about life in Tuscany and Umbria. Her specialities are Tuscan and Umbrian local history and folklore.
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