Coda alla vaccinara is an

oxtail stew Oxtail stew dishes are a traditional item in various cuisines. * Coda alla vaccinara is a modern Roman cuisine stew made with oxtail. * Rabo de toro is a traditional Spanish oxtail stew. * Kare-kare is a meat, tripe, oxtail and vegetables in ...

in modern

Roman cuisine Roman cuisine comes from the Italian city of Rome. It features fresh, seasonal and simply-prepared ingredients from the Roman Campagna.Boni (1930), pg. 13. These include peas, globe artichokes and fava beans, shellfish, milk-fed lamb and goat, ...

including various vegetables, notably

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...

. The tail is considered

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but usually excludes muscle. Offal may also refe ...

, nicknamed in Rome the '' quinto quarto'' 'the fifth fourth'.

Preparation

The oxtail is

parboiled Parboiling (or leaching) is the partial or semi boiling of food as the first step in cooking. The word is from the Old French 'parboillir' (to boil thoroughly) but by mistaken association with 'part' it has acquired its current meaning. The wo ...

and then simmered with large amounts of celery (typically 1.5 kilo of celery for every kilo of tail), carrots, and aromatic herbs.

Tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es and red wine are added, and then the mixture is cooked further with a

soffritto A mirepoix ( ; ) is a flavor base made from diced vegetables cooked—usually with butter, oil, or other fat—for a long time on low heat without coloring or browning, as further cooking, often with the addition of tomato purée, creates a dar ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...

s, garlic,

prosciutto ''Prosciutto crudo'', in English often shortened to prosciutto ( , ), is Italian uncooked, unsmoked, and dry-cured ham. ''Prosciutto crudo'' is usually served thinly sliced. Several regions in Italy have their own variations of ''prosciutto crud ...

pancetta Pancetta () is a salt-cured pork belly meat product in a category known as salume. In Italy, it is often used to add depth to soups and pastas. (in Italian). Uses For cooking, it is often cut into cubes (''cubetti di pancetta''). In Italy, ...

and some other ingredients. During the final phase of cooking, a

bouquet garni The ''bouquet garni'' (French for "garnished bouquet"; ) is a bundle of herbs usually tied with string and mainly used to prepare soup, stock, casseroles and various stews. The bouquet is cooked with the other ingredients and removed prior t ...

of bay leaves, celery stalks, and cloves is put in the pot for flavouring. It is cooked until the meat easily separates from the bones. It is seasoned with cinnamon,

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

, and

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in dia ...

and garnished with

pine nut Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), pignoli or chilgoza (), are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are trad ...

s.Coda alla Vaccinara (Oxtail Stewed in Tomato Sauce)
/ref> ''Coda'' is usually prepared to taste sweet-and-sour, usually using

raisin A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the ...

s, or sometimes

candied fruit Candied fruit, also known as glacé fruit, is whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it. Depending on the size and type of ...

or a small amount of grated bittersweet

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

. Coda is generally prepared in advance and reheated. Leftovers can be used as a sauce for rigatoni,Coda alla vaccinara
/ref> which is then named ''rigatoni al sugo di coda''.

History

''Coda alla vaccinara'' was originally the specialty of the ''vaccinari'' 'butchers' of the Rione Regola in Rome, to the point that the inhabitants of that rione were nicknamed in Romanesco dialect ''magnacode'', 'tail-eaters'. It is often found in the ''trattorie'' of Testaccio and Trastevere.

Popular culture

''Coda'' is the favourite dish of the protagonist Giacinto Mazzatella ( Nino Manfredi) in '' Down and Dirty''. He expresses his appreciation of the dish with the words "Oxtail and celery are like man and woman. It's all well when one sticks to the other."Coda alla Vaccinara
/ref>

Preparation

History

Popular culture

See also

References

Further reading