Calabrian Meats

The Aspromonte is Calabria's central mountainous massif, and the name -- literally, "The Bitter Mountain" gives an idea of how rugged the topography is and how harsh the conditions are. One of the creatures that roams the mountains is the wild boar, and this is a simple recipe for roast sella di cinghiale, or rack of wild boar.

Braciole Calabresi: This is an old Calabrian recipe that is quite tasty hot off the fire. It's also rather particular, in that it's made entirely with non-water-based ingredients that will keep quite well if protected from the air, say by a layer of oil. In fact, packing cooked meats in an oil that would solidify as it cooled to room temperature was a common form of preservation in pre-refrigerated Italy, and you'll likely find a jar of these tucked away in some pantries in Calabria even today.

A Calabrian recipe for roast veal with tomatoes and herbs.

Calabrian Grilled Kid, or Capretto alla Griglia: A simple, tasty recipe from Calabria.

Calabrian-style Pork Chops, or Braciole di Maiale alla Calabrese: Italians often use fennel seeds to season pork chops. In Calabria they also add hot pepper to give them added kick.

A specialty of Vibo Valentia (Calabria), chicken stuffed with sausages and other goodies, and roasted (basting with sea water, if you have it).

That's filled with butter, lemon and anchovy filets (just a few) and roasted. Self basting and zesty!

Grilled Pork Chops, or Braciole di Maiale: Some recipes are involved. Others, like this from Calabria, are extremely simple.

Lamb Catanzaro Style, or Avunu a Catanzarisi: Calabrian recipes tend to be zesty; the richness of the meat is nicely balanced by the sharpness of the capers and anchovies, which will provide flavor and balance but not overshadow (encouragement for those wary of anchovies).

Lamb Chops Calabrian style, an excellent recipe from my review of Carlo Middione's The Food of Southern Italy.

There are a number of variations on Calabrian lamb chops, which seem to have bell pepper as a common thread. Carlo Midione gives a version with artichokes in his The Food of Southern Italy, while this version instead adds green olives.

Though this might sound somewhat unlikely, it is quite traditional. The recipe is Calabrian, and the Italian I worked from doesn't give measurements, so feel free to adjust quantities to suit your taste.

A Calabrian specialty, meatballs with raisins in their hearts, which go perfectly with broccoli rabe.

Hare and rabbit are both readily available in Italy, and though Artusi mentions a well-to-do person's being put off by the latter, they have always been popular out in the country because they're easy to catch or raise. This recipe is Calabrian.

An intriguing mixture of roasting and stewing for this kid or lamb, from Calabria.

Though some people object to goat, I enjoy its flavor, and it becomes extraordinarily tender as it simmers. In this case, with tomatoes, fennel and more. If you do not have goat, lamb will work well too.

Veal Cutlets with Peppers, or Costolette di Vitello coi Peperoni: This is Calabrian recipe, and ideally the peppers should have some bite. If need be, however, you can use sweet bell peppers instead.

Don’t blanch; up until the 1950s most Calabrians who lived in the country ate meat once a week if that, and depended upon sheep and goats for much of their protein (through milk as well as meat). They would have of course attempted to kill any local predators, and having done so would then have eaten their catch. This can also be done with hare,...