Porchetta d’Ariccia
Sunday, 19th April 2009 | 9 Comments
One of my first meals after moving to Italy in 2003 was a huge feast at a fraschetta in Ariccia in the Castelli Romani just southeast of Rome. I drove out there with some friends I worked with at the St. Stephen’s School, following the Appia Nuova southeast towards the Alban Hills, through Albano over the bridge I was told was a popular instrument for suicide (I don’t know why but every time I pass over that bridge with someone new, I am related the exact same information), and into Ariccia’s tavern-filled town center. That was the first time I ever ate porchetta, a deboned (and de-hooved) sow filled with a mixture of salt, pepper, fennel, and its own liver, lungs and heart. The meat is rolled tight around the filling, tied with twine, and roasted. As it cooks, the skin forms a crispy crust that insulates the moisture of the meat while the spices and innards become a flavorful paste within. In Ariccia’s frascette, Porchetta is sliced by hand and served on sheets of paper at long, communal tables piled high with other local specialties like copiette, pecorino romano, olive, and salumi. With all this fatty food, it is fortunate that the local red wine, the slightly sweet and effervescent Romanella, flows freely to cleanse the palate and prepare it for more.
April 19th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Ciao Katie,
We love porchetta from Ariccia and Frascati too!
Very well done!
Ciao
Nancy
April 19th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Thanks, Nancy! I love the Castelli-used to go all the time and have fallen out of the habit. That’s got to change!
April 19th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
So excited to have found your blog – it’s FANTASTIC! Especially fun since I’m going to Italy for a month in the summer!!! Thanks for all your hard work!!!!
April 19th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Ciao Katie
We also love our porchetta from the Deruta area, looking forward to getting back soon.
April 19th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
@thepinkpeppercorn thanks! love your blog too:)
@Louie Mele oooh ive never tried it. what is the one from deruta like? does it sound like a similar recipe?
April 20th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
You cleanse my palate just like Romanella, Katie Parla.
April 20th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Why thank you, Diana. That is very kind of you to say. Do you consider me more red, tannic or effervescent?
February 25th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
[...] crispier base. One slice of Pizza con i Carciofi alla Romana and one sandwich of Pizza con Porchetta di Ariccia which we all oooh and aaahed over long after it had disappeared from our plate and into our [...]
September 25th, 2011 at 7:34 pm
[...] is known the world over for its porchetta and fraschette (convivial taverns). But there is much more to this small town in the Castelli [...]