Cosciotto di Maiale al Coccio del Pastore Sassarese
The swineherd, like the shepherd, conducts his life significantly all’ aria aperta—out-of-doors. It is there that he naps and forages, tends to his fires, capriciously bathing himself and one part or another of his clothing in an often swift and single maneuver. He might also cook up some wonderfully scented stew of wild mushrooms or one of dried beans and just-gathered grasses and herbs, as supplement to his staples of cheese, honey, bread, and wine. More than once, though, we took note of purposeful midday couriers visiting a swineherd in the pasture, carrying a basket full of components for him to cook a fine feast of a lunch midst his charges and under the sun. We learned, too, that, once in a while, the swineherd cooks for his family, his friends. Here follows a version of a dish as it is prepared by a young Sard herdsman when he slaughters a pig for market. Staging a torchlit supper in his meadow, he braises a haunch of the animal for his neighbors. Its formula was told to us by his wife, she having cooked it for us on the farm where we stayed near Sassari.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 18 to 20
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
In a mortar with a pestle, grind the cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and juniper berries to a coarse powder and rub the mixture well onto all the surfaces of the leg of pork, placing it, then, in a large, noncorrosive bowl.
Step 2
Heat the bottle of red wine to a point just under the simmer, adding the sage leaves and the rosemary. Cover the liquid; allowing it to steep for 30 minutes. Pour the infusion over the spiced pork, covering the bowl tightly with plastic wrap (a conceit not dictated in the original formula) and permitting it to marinate for 6 hours at cool room temperature. If you are a swineherd or a shepherd, a few hours under the shade of an oak tree seems just fine. Strain the marinade from the meat, reserving it and discarding any remains from the spices and herbs. Dry the pork with absorbent paper towels (conceit number two).
Step 3
Meanwhile, in a very large terra-cotta or enameled cast-iron casserole, warm the olive oil with the butter, adding the pancetta and melting it in the fat. Add the onion and garlic, rolling them about in the fat and softening them to transparency. Remove the onion and garlic to a plate. In the remaining fat, seal the leg of pork, sprinkling on sea salt and permitting the meat to crust and take on deep color. The process takes at least 15 minutes. When the pork is sealed, remove it to a holding plate.
Step 4
Add the reserved marinade to the casserole, raising the flame, stirring, scraping at the residue for 1/2 minute before adding 1 cup of the additional red wine and 1 cup of the late-harvest wine along with the pork and the reserved onion and garlic. Over a low flame, bring the liquids just to the point of simmering, cover the casserole with a slightly skewed lid, and braise the pork for 3 1/2 to 4 hours or until the internal temperature at the thickest part of the meat reads 155 degrees. This is the point at which Mariuccia, the swineherd’s wife, ended her husband’s recipe.
Step 5
I add the following steps, which detract not a whit from the rusticity of the dish, but serve to intensify its flavors.
Step 6
Remove the leg of pork to a holding plate and strain the sauce, pressing on and discarding the solids. Return the sauce to the casserole and, over a lively flame, reduce it for 10 minutes. Reacquaint the meat with its sauce, permitting the whole to cool completely, uncovered. Skim any accumulation of fat, gently reheat the pork in its sauce, removing it to large, warmed platter. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of wine to the sauce, heating it just to the point of simmering, pouring some over the pork.
Step 7
At table, carve the leg into thin slices, offering it with more of its sauce, chunks of good bread, and a jug of red wine.
