Tag: Jellied Meat

GELATINA DI MAIALE. Pork Brawn

Gelatina di Maiale: Traditional Sicilian Pork Brawn from Ragusa and Modica

Gelatina di Maiale — Sicilian pork brawn — is a beloved specialty throughout south-eastern Sicily, especially around the attractive historic Baroque towns –Ragusa, Modica and Chiaramonte Gulfi. Whenever I visit my father’s relatives in Ragusa, this dish appears in butcher shops, local markets, and on family tables. Rustic, fragrant and full of character, it showcases the region’s tradition of making the most of every part of the animal.

 

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Baroque balconies in Modica

What Is Gelatina di Maiale?

This is a gelatinous terrine made by slowly simmering pork head, tongue, feet and lean meat until the broth becomes naturally thick and rich. Once cooled, the broth sets into a firm, fragrant jelly that encases shredded pieces of meat.
In Sicily, it’s commonly served as antipasto, but it also makes a refreshing summer main.

A Taste of Ragusa, Modica and Chiaramonte Gulfi

Ragusa and Modica are two of Sicily’s most atmospheric Baroque towns. Their golden stone buildings, dramatic hills and rich culinary traditions make them unforgettable.


In nearby Chiaramonte Gulfi, Gelatina di Maiale (also called Zuzzu) is especially popular — a dish rooted in farmhouse cooking, where pork, citrus and vinegar combine to create something refreshing yet deeply savoury.

 Pork+pieces_0125+blog+crop (1)

 

In Gelatina di maiale the pork’s head provides the gelatinous component. Usually the tongue is included in the head and this adds texture and extra flavour.

Zuzzu or Gelatina, pig’s head

Meat also needs to be included and apart from half of a pig’s head,  lean pork (cut into large pieces) and pig’s feet.

Over time, I have adapted this recipe and I include bay leaves and peppercorns to the mix.

Great as an antipasto or as a main, especially in summer. Gelatina is sold by most butchers in southeastern Sicily.

INGREDIENTS

  • ½ pig’s head (with tongue, for extra texture and flavour)
  • 1.5 kg lean pork, cut into large pieces
  • 4 pig’s feet
  • Bay leaves
  • Whole peppercorns
  • ½ cup white vinegar
  • Juice of 2 lemons

PROCESS

1. Simmer the Meats

Place the pig’s head, lean pork and pig’s feet into a large pot. Add bay leaves and peppercorns. Cover with water and bring to a gentle boil.
Simmer for about 3 hours, or until the meat falls easily from the bones.

2. Rest Overnight

Turn off the heat and allow the pot to cool. Leave it to rest in the fridge overnight — this helps the broth begin to set.

3. Prepare the Stock

Remove the solidified meat and separate it from the jelly. Add the vinegar and lemon juice to the remaining broth.
Simmer and reduce the liquid to one-third of its original volume.

4. Shred and Assemble

Remove all bones and shred the meat coarsely, not too fine.
Line a terrine with bay leaves, pack in the meat, and pour over the cooled, reduced stock.

5. Chill and Set

Cool completely. As it sets, any fat will rise to the top — scrape this off once cold. The layer of fat actually helps seal the terrine.

Serving Suggestions

Gelatina di Maiale is excellent:
• as an antipasto, with crusty bread or pickled vegetables
• as a summer main, served cold with salads
• alongside Sicilian olives, capers and lemon wedg

 

Gelatina
Gelatina sold in butcher shops

Making ZUZZU, also Called Gelatina di Maiale, podcast and recipe:

SBS The Ugly Ducklings of Italian Cuisine (Scarrafoni in Cucina)

The Ugly Ducklings in Italian Cuisine (Scarrafoni in cucina)

 

GELATINA DI MAIALE and HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAR IDDA (Buon Compleanno Bar Idda).

Alfredo and his co chef at Bar Idda

On the 5t of July Bar Idda celebrated its first birthday and their new menu strongly influenced by recent discoveries of recipes experienced while in Sicily. Gelatina di Maiale was one of the offerings.

Lisa and Alfredo are the proprietors of Bar Idda in Lygon Street. Their heritage is from the South Eastern Part of Sicily and they have returned from their holiday in Sicily full of ideas and enthusiasm for their small, Sicilian restaurant.

Anthony is the bar person and after discussing the wine with him we selected a bottle of ROSSOJBLEO, a bio-organic, Sicilian Nero d’Avola from Chiaramonte Gulfi (Ragusa). My partner and I then ate our way through many very enjoyable Sicilian specialties. These included:

Hot ricotta soup with home made pasta. Ricotta is very much appreciated by Sicilians especially when it has just been made.  Particularly in Ragusa and the environs people visit cheese makers (sometimes on farms) and watch the ricotta being made. Ladles of hot, fresh curds and whey are usually poured on broken pieces of bread and eaten like soup.  

Gelatina di maiale (brawn, made with pork- see recipe and photos below) and some affettati (a selection of cold cuts of salumi). An eggplant caponata was also included in this antipasto.

Farsumagru (il falsomagro is a beef, meat roll stuffed with hard boiled egg and can include cheeses , salamini and mortadella).  It is braised in a tomato sauce and presented sliced. In this case it was made with minced beef and Alfredo’s version included a little zucchini for colour and variety of textures. Farsumagru translates into false–lean. It contains delectable ingredients including meat, so this is a pun on ‘lenten’ food – during the liturgical seasons Catholics were required to eat simple food and to abstain from eating meat. These laws have relaxed over time.

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Farsumagru ( in Sicilian) Falso magro,(in Italian) meat loaf with egg in the middle

The farsumagru was accompanied by a warm potato salad with capers and comichons, and a fennel and orange salad with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds.

We then had a glass of Malvasia a very rich flavoured dessert wine made by drying Malvasia grapes (bianche– white variety)  before crushing.  It was an excellent accompaniment to the small fried pastries called cassateddi. There are many local variations to this recipe, and in this version the dough was stuffed with ricotta, cinnamon, and honey. I could taste some alcohol too. (Honey is used instead of sugar in the Ragusa area).

Thank you Bar Idda, for a very enjoyable meal. Auguri e complimenti and may there be many years to come.

 Recipe and photo of the Gelatina I make



Gelatina (means gelatine or jellied). It is sold as a Smallgoods food.

In various parts of Sicily the gelatina di maiale is called by a variety of names: jlatina di maiali, Suzu, suzzu, or zuzu.

I found a recipe for gelatina scribbled in one of many notebooks which I use to record recipes when I visit Italy. In this particular notebook from 1980, there are many Sicilian recipes, but on this particular trip I must have visited the relatives in Genova (a Piedmontese aunt married to my father’s brother and living in Genova and her daughter Rosadele who is an excellent cook also). There were  also some recipes written in Trieste (my zia Renata was from Rovigo and married my mother’s brother).

I have not made gelatina di maiale for many years but I have nearly always included a half of a pork’s head – this provides the jelly component. The tongue adds texture and extra flavour (you can throw out the eyes).

It is always a good idea to pre-order a pork’s head beforehand and I was not able to purchase one. I used pork feet instead (as you can see by this photo) and fortunately it turned out very well. In this gelatina I included approx 1.500 kilo of lean pork (cut into large pieces) and four pig’s feet.
INGREDIENTS AND PROCESSES
The recipe is one of my zia Niluzza’s who lives in Ragusa (Sicily) and it simply says:
1 part vinegar to 3 parts of water, red chilli flakes or whole pepper corns and salt. Use a mixed selection of pork meat, including the head.
Place in cold water mixture, cover meat.
Boil for 6 hours (covered) on slow heat.
Filter broth, remove some of the fat and reduce, remove bones, shred meat.
Lay meat in earthenware bowl, cover with cooled broth and leave to set.

Over time, I have altered the recipe and include bay leaves and peppercorns and I boil the pork without the vinegar only for about 3 hours (until I can see the meat falling off the bones).

Once it is cooked, I leave it to rest overnight.

The next day I remove the meat from the jelly, I add ½ cup of vinegar and the juice of a couple of lemons to the broth and reduce the liquid down to a third of the original amount.

I shred the meat and place it into a terrine and cover it with the cooled reduced stock. Any fat will rise to the surface and can be scraped off when it is cool (in fact, it acts as a seal).

RICOTTA SOUP:

SICILIAN CHEESE MAKING. A VISIT TO A MASSARO (farmer-cheese maker) IN RAGUSA. Formaggio all’ argentiera