Porchetta in Italy

Porchetta : the best known Italian roast pig, a classic festival food which is traditionally roasted whole.

When in Italy, you don't really have to worry about food at all. Rome specially knows how to satisfy the hunger of her guests with wonderful mouth watering food. Roman food is actually very simple yet hugely popular.

One can find a Porchettaro in most of the gathering or fair who does a brisk business selling sandwiches or simply slices of Porchetta. It gave me immense pleasure tasting this Italian delicacy as well as freezing some of the moments in my camera  while visiting  AFL-ARTIGIANO International Fair at Milan, Italy in December 2010 and watch how this delicacy was sold in huge amounts. Visitors thronged to the stalls selling Porchetta for a slice or carry home packets full of it.

For small gathering of around 20 to 30 people, a 'suckling pig' is used to prepare Porchetta. A suckling pig is a piglet fed on mother's milk, it is slaughtered between two to six weeks of age when the meat is tender and roasted whole in big ovens.
During festivals and fairs, for Porchetta, the pig should not be less than 90 pounds (40 kg) or can be  220 pounds(100kg or little more). It is de-boned, very well seasoned and stuffed with herbs before roasting in big ovens large enough to accommodate a pig, for hours by expert hands. It's ready when the skin turns a delicious golden brown and crisp. In Italy large ovens are used with fire wood for this purpose.

Porchetta is served thinly sliced, each piece comes out with some fat along with meat and skin. It's just perfect for filling in your sandwich, a slice with some red wine or to take away for later use as it tastes great whether eaten warm or  at room temperature. 
So, next time you are in Italy, make sure to take a bite into Porchetta with a glass of red wine and feel the heaven. Bon Appetit !!