Calabrian style pork sauté, a typical dish of Calabrian cuisine, is usually prepared when the home-reared pig is slaughtered. It was traditional, especially in the past, to raise pigs for their meat and especially for cured meats, to be preserved and consumed throughout the year. This tradition is slowly being lost, but many families in the countryside still keep it alive. When the pig is slaughtered, it becomes a true family gathering, with grandparents, uncles, and all the experienced elders working on the prized meats. This usually lasts a couple of days, if not more, and during these days sumptuous banquets are prepared, with the pig being the star. On the day of the slaughter, the richest banquet is prepared, with the most prized parts, known as the bone of the breast, which is extracted and cooked, partly in sauce, like a ragù, and partly plain. In various areas of Calabria, this preparation is called sauté, but it’s not the same everywhere. I used only loin meat with a bit of its fat for the preparation, a prized meat, as it’s difficult to find the breast tip. Also, the loin is certainly more practical to work with since it is boneless. I used to find it a real torture to find small bones in the ragù, and yes, because at my house, pigs were slaughtered, and they still are, to be honest, and both the meat in sauce and plain are made, along with many other things that follow. In many areas, the sauté is accompanied by Surjaca, which is beans cooked in the clay pot, or in the pignata.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Slow Cook
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients for Calabrian Style Pork Sauté
- 2.2 lbs pork meat for ragù (with some fat)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 chili pepper
- to taste dried oregano
- to taste juniper berries
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 leaf bay leaf
- 1 glass dry white wine
- onion (optional)
Tools for Preparing Calabrian Style Pork Sauté
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pot
- 1 Kitchen Spatula
Steps to Prepare Calabrian Style Pork Sauté
Let’s start preparing the meat for cooking. If it’s too fatty, remove some of it, then cut it into small pieces. We do this on a cutting board with a sharp smooth-edged butcher’s knife.
In a pot with a thick bottom, put a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, add garlic, chili pepper, and rosemary, heat it up and add the meat. Start browning the meat well; to give more flavor, you can add bay leaf, oregano, and some juniper berries.
When the meat is well browned, add a glass of wine, cover, and cook. Cook for about an hour, or a little more until the meat is very tender.
Let the wine dry out well; at the end, if necessary, add a little water to continue cooking. If you like, you can add a chopped onion; it is usually used when preparing liver stew in the same way, another typical preparation during the pig slaughtering period because nothing of the pig is wasted.
Instead of accompanying it with beans as usual, I served it with a delicious polenta.
