Porchetta () is a savory, fatty, and moist boneless

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

roast of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

culinary tradition. The carcass is deboned and spitted or 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, though many versions do not involve stuffing. Porchetta is usually heavily salted and can be stuffed with garlic,

rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was known by the scientific name ''Rosmar ...

fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

, or other herbs, often wild. Porchetta has been selected by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy as a '' prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale'' ("traditional agricultural-food 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 Central Italy ( it, Italia centrale or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region, and a European Parliament constituency. Regions Central I ...

, with

Ariccia Ariccia (Latin: ''Aricia'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, central Italy, southeast of Rome. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio (Latium) region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs. One ...

(in 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 ''PitchMen'' (original name: ''But Wait...There's More'')panino. It's a common street food in Rome, and Lazio served as a filling for pizza bianca. 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 the

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

region, the other being sheep cheese

pecorino romano Pecorino Romano () is a hard, salty Italian cheese, often used for grating, made with sheep's milk. The name "pecorino" simply means "ovine" or "of sheep" in Italian; the name of the cheese, although protected, is a simple description rather t ...

. Porchetta is also common in Abruzzo. ''Porchetta abruzzese'' is generally slow roasted with

, garlic, and

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

. Porchetta from

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

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

. Porchetta ''trevigiana'' (from

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...

) was developed in 1919. In it, a pig is slaughtered 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 . The porchetta is today a popular dish in

Venetian cuisine Venetian cuisine, from the city of Venice, Italy or more widely from the region of Veneto, has a centuries-long history and differs significantly from other cuisines of northern Italy (notably Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtir ...

. The dish is also a staple of

Sardinian cuisine The cuisine of Sardinia is the traditional cuisine of the island of Sardinia, and the expression of its culinary art. It is characterised by its own variety, and by the fact of having been enriched through a number of interactions with the other ...

. There it is known as "porceddu" and is roasted over juniper and myrtle wood fires.

In North America

Porchetta was introduced to the United States by

Italian immigrants , image = Map of the Italian Diaspora in the World.svg , image_caption = Map of the Italian diaspora in the world , population = worldwide , popplace = Brazil, Argentina, United States, France, Colombia, Canada, P ...

of the early 20th century, especially immigrants from Abruzzo, and is sometimes referred to as "Italian

pulled pork Pulled pork is an American barbecue dish, more specifically a dish of the Southern U.S., based on shredded barbecued pork shoulder. It is typically slow-smoked over wood (usually outdoors); indoor variations use a slow cooker. The meat is th ...

," "roast pork," or "Italian roast pork." It is, in many places, served on a sandwich with greens (

rapini Rapini or broccoli rabe () is a green cruciferous vegetable, with the leaves, buds, and stems all being edible; the buds somewhat resemble broccoli, but do not form a large head. Rapini is known for its bitter taste, and is particularly associ ...

or spinach) and

provolone Provolone (, ) is an Italian cheese. It is an aged ''pasta filata'' (stretched-curd) cheese originating in Campania near Vesuvius, where it is still produced in pear, sausage, or cone shapes long. Provolone-type cheeses are also produced in othe ...

cheese. In

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and the surrounding area, the dish is usually referred to as simply "roast pork," "roast pork sandwich," "Italian roast pork," "roast pork Italian," "roasted pork," or "porchetta."

Philadelphia cuisine The cuisine of Philadelphia was shaped largely by the city's mixture of ethnicities, available foodstuffs and history. Certain foods have become associated with the city. Invented in Philadelphia in the 1930s, the cheesesteak is the most well kno ...

is noted for its sandwich form of porchetta, usually served on an Italian roll and often with

broccoli rabe Rapini or broccoli rabe () is a green cruciferous vegetable, with the leaves, buds, and stems all being edible; the buds somewhat resemble broccoli, but do not form a large head. Rapini is known for its bitter taste, and is particularly associat ...

and most traditionally with locally made sharp provolone. "Roast pork" is a staple of Philadelphia Italian-American and

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.Reading Terminal Market Reading Terminal Market is an enclosed public market located at 12th and Arch Streets in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It opened originally in 1893 under the elevated train shed of the Reading Railroad Company after the city of Phila ...

and John's Roast Pork, Esposito's Porchetta, and

Tony Luke's Tony Luke's is an American-based cheesesteak restaurant that was founded in 1992 by Tony Lucidonio, Sr. and his sons, Tony Luke Jr. and Nicky Lucidonio at its original location at 39 East Oregon Avenue in South Philadelphia. The franchise has sin ...

in South Philadelphia being well known for their porchetta or "roast pork" sandwiches.

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...

, Connecticut, has a Saturday afternoon lunch tradition of porchetta sandwiches served at community restaurants and taverns that dates back to the first wave of Italian immigration in the early 20th century. The dish is served with

pepperoncini The friggitello (plural friggitelli) is a sweet Italian chili pepper of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. It is also known as the Golden Greek pepper, Sweet Italian pepper, or Tuscan pepper. In the United States they may be called "pepperoncini"; ...

. The porchetta and roast beef sandwich traditions are celebrated in the form of an annual bus tour every first Saturday in March in

, Connecticut, organized by The Porchetta Project. Metro West Massachusetts has a fierce following of porchettas. Local organizations often hold Porchetta Dinners as very popular and well-attended fundraisers. Many local shops make a roast for purchase, cooked or uncooked. Notable areas are Milford and Framingham, Massachusetts, as they both have large Italian populations. The spices used vary greatly within this area; some will go full bore with garlic, black pepper, salt, fennel, rosemary, and sage, and others will use only garlic, salt, pepper, and fennel. The stem of the fennel plant is often substituted for the fennel seed. These local roasts are made from the Boston butt or shoulder of the pig. Porchetta is also very popular in Northern Ontario (notably Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie) and Southern

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

(in areas such as

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

and St. Catharines), and the term "porchetta" is widely used by Italian-Canadians, instead of simply "roast pork". Italian settlers in Sudbury passed their love for porchetta to their children and friends in this region. Old family secrets of spicing, rolling and roasting are passed on, extending commercially into butcher shops and in the form of fast-food sandwiches offered in various locally owned shops."Sudbury’s signature dish is porketta"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', January 9, 2012. "Porketta Bingo", a variation on the traditional Canadian meat draw, is a popular Saturday afternoon activity in Sudbury. Game winners receive one pound of porchetta and a sourdough bun. There are usually between four and seven rounds of six games each, depending on the establishment. Proceeds of Porketta Bingo usually go to a local charity or are donated to local hockey associations. In the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...

porchetta, more often spelled "porketta", was also introduced by Italian immigrants to the iron ranges of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. Porketta remains a popular local dish in towns such as

Hibbing, Minnesota Hibbing is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,214 at the 2020 census. The city was built on mining the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range and still relies on that industrial activity today. At th ...

with distributors such as Fraboni Sausage.

References

{{Sandwiches Cuisine of Lazio Cuisine of Abruzzo Cuisine of Philadelphia Pork dishes Barbecue Sandwiches Stuffed dishes Cuisine of Umbria Italian meat dishes

In Italy

In North America

See also

References