Frittuli, In Caddara, Suzu, Zziriguli, Minjulie. It’s not Arabic, but almost. These are, in fact, some of the dialect terms linked to the Calabrian culinary tradition of pork. A world unknown in its lexicon, in its rites, in its ingredients that is revealed and revealed by Nino Rossi (chef of the one Michelin star Qafiz restaurant and owner of Casa Qafiz), thanks to a one-of-a-kind event: “Pig Calabria“, L’February 11th to Qafiz House (Santa Cristina D’Aspromonte).
Pig Calabria: a new dress for tradition
A bit like Cinderella… the prince notices her when the Smemorina Fairy dresses her up for the grand court ball. Chef Nino Rossi also works magic and gives new splendor to one of the older rituals of the kitchen Calabrianthat of the pig.
«I am a person who loves contaminations, consequently I like to look at the East and other cuisines in general with great curiosity. At the same time, I am also strongly aware that Calabria has great strength in its palette of vegetables, meats and preserves, but all these elements must be looked at with a new eye today. Pilchard, ndujaaubergines in oil, dried tomatoes are super ingredients that need not be belittled”.
Thus “Pig Calabria” has at its heart the very ancient “pig ritual”, a collective ceremony where the whole family was involved with different tasks and where the protagonists were flavors and culinary techniques that had now almost been forgotten. «This event is the summa of my thoughts on cuisine in Calabria, because I believe there is enormous energy in these ancestral rites, in our ingredients, in general in our past, but they need a new dress. And that’s when you can find a balance between that past and this new dress that everything is nourished by a new strength. But to do this you need to have courage, pride and passion».
Just like for Cinderella at the ball in the castle, Nino Rossi brings this popular tradition into a “stellar” dimension, where the palace is obviously Casa Qafiz, a historic residence from the 1700s on the slopes of Aspromonte. And inviting excellent guests to the “dance”: the Ioppolo and Piccolo butchers (historical establishments in the area), the most important chefs of contemporary Calabrian cuisine, but also chefs from the rest of Italy, wineries, breweries and mixologists. A “mixture” of excellence.
Why participate in the Pig
«For the chance to taste some dishes by star chefs who come from other regions and who interpret a pork-based dish with great emotion». Each of the invited chefs will, in fact, be able to choose the part of the pig to interpret, ranging between different cooking techniques and making use of all the seasonal raw materials that the Calabrian territory offers, from vegetables to wild herbs. «Because it’s one great party and we all need moments of sharing and lightness, in which to pause social media. And then it’s a unique event of its kind».
Encouragement for those most skeptical about the theme of the event: «it totally is plastic free, everything will be biodegradable and compostable. Furthermore, as the claim underlines, “nothing of the Calabrian pig is thrown away“: all parts of the animal are used, which results in no food waste. Obviously with rigorous ethics even in meat farming, they are animals of the black pig consortiumtherefore grown in a semi-wild state, outside of any intensive logic».
A recipe to try
«On the day the whole pig was killed, the parts not completely used in the cured meats were boiled inside the pig’s suet, in a copper cauldron on coals, a sort of very slow confit cooking inside the fat. In the end, all the small pieces of meat that remained on the bottom were removed together with the suet and, once cooled, they transformed into a sort of jelly.». This product, called differently in each Calabrian village (Micciuje, Curcuci, Suzu), is preserved for a long time and becomes the ingredient for various recipes: chef Nino Rossi suggests one.
«Cut into rounds part of the greenery of the spring onions of Tropea, are cooked in a pan with this sort of pork jelly, then using its fat instead of oil, once the spring onion has melted and cooked, add a grind of black pepper and cook a fried egg». The extra tip? «Make the slipper with Jermano wheat bread (Calabrian rye)».
A collective journey through time illuminated by chefs and excellent raw materials, to rediscover a ancestral rite to look at with the new ones lenses of contemporaneity and above all by opening your mind and heart: Pig Calabria (all the details of the event and the possibility to book can be found on the dedicated website).