Soft and tasty meat accompanied by a crunchy, fragrant rind: this is the secret to Sardinian spit-roasted porcetto, one of the island’s best known dishes. In fact, it’s so widely treasured that it has now permanently abandoned the guise of “holiday lunch” (it was once a classic for Easter) to rise to the rank of the flagship dish of Sardinian tradition around the world, alongside “seada” and “sa trattalia.”
The proper choice of meat
The main ingredient of Sardinian porcetto is suckling pig, a very young animal that is slaughtered when its weight does not yet exceed 15 pounds. To prepare it for traditional cooking – which is practically the same in every corner of Sardinia – it must be thoroughly cleaned, both internally and externally, burning off the bristles, washing it, and drying it. After that, it’s cut in half lengthwise and the spit is inserted from the back thigh to the snout. If you use a manual spit, the old- fashioned way, the personal skill of those cooking the Sardinian porcetto becomes very important. It’s not as simple as it seems, in fact, to transform the skin into a crispy rind while keeping the meat tasty and tender.
The secret? Indirect cooking
What makes classic Sardinian porcetto so special is the way it’s cooked: indirectly. The embers are placed around the meat, which is suspended on the spit at just the right distance: if it’s too close to the heat, it will become dry or even burn. This is the main reason why it usually takes no less than four hours to prepare this typical Sardinian meal. So the opportunity to taste it directly on the spot is priceless, in one of the many structures where you can get a glimpse of its preparation, an ancient ritual that local breeders have passed down from generation to generation. Some of the most curious features for those unfamiliar with the dish are the salting (which takes place once the pig is halfway cooked), the typical herb seasoning (with myrtle, in particular), and the custom of letting the melted lard drip slowly onto the rind.
Sardinian porcetto: the tradition
Its popularity as a typical dish on traditional and tourist menus is rather recent. Up until 40 or 50 years ago, Sardinian spit-roasted porcetto was, as we mentioned earlier, a dish for special occasions, perfect as a main course for Easter or family gatherings. This was also due to the fact that not everyone could afford the “luxury” of eating suckling pig, since adult pigs became an extraordinary resource for the family, providing meat, sausage and other products, ideal to fill the home’s pantry or even to be sold or exchanged.