Porchetta is popular all over Italy, but it is most famously known as the beloved street snack of Rome. It is a whole roasted suckling pig, stuffed with wild fennel, garlic and rosemary, and spit roasted over wood. It’s then cut into thick slices with loads of salty crackling and a ladle of the roasting juices.
By Chris Black, chef and co-owner of Bellevue Cafe and Lupa Osteria
Most often stuffed into fresh, warm panini bread, it is sold by porchetta stands or by pitchmen, who set up a stall on the roadside or more famously serve it out of their white painted vans.
It is now more commonly cooked overnight in cooling pizza ovens all over the city and is removed the following morning, deliciously tender.
Recreate your own piece of Rome, using the finest pork from our friend Ryan at SALA. Wrap a fennel and garlic rubbed loin in a boned belly to get loads of moist, juicy, sweet pork as well as loads of the best part – salty, crunchy crackling! Serve it with roasted vegetables and a tangy salsa verde.
Serve it with Terra Del Capo Arne 2008.
This blend of Merlot and Sangiovese grapes is elegance personified! Expect a fragrant bouquet of red and black fruit – cassis, spice, red cherry and freshly turned earth. It is rich yet restrained, with fresh acidity balancing the ripeness of the blending components on the rounded, sleek palate. Cassis generosity meshes with a dark earthiness and a light char note from the integrated oak. Plush, supple and textured throughout, but with a distinct firm tannin core. The finish is long and richly fruited.
Born from the vision of the late Anthonij Rupert, the Terra del Capo range reflects his love of Italy, its wines and food, and the beautiful combination of both influenced the South African expression of these three wines.
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