Boar in a Sweet-and-Pungent Sauce, or Cinghiale in Salsa Agrodolce: This is an extremely old recipe, with a concept -- the contraposition of sweet and pungent -- that dates to the time of the Crusades, when the knights returned home from the Holy Land influenced by aristocratic Middle Eastern traditions, which included using sugar as a sort of sweet salt (the use of vinegar was instead dictated by the need to preserve meat before the days of refrigeration)...
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- See Below
Preparation:
The current combination of chocolate and sugar is, of course, more recent, since chocolate only arrived in Europe with the discovery of the Americas. And the recipe is relatively rare today; it's the sort of thing one more often hears members of the elder generations mention because their parents or grandparents enjoyed it for Sunday dinner. Old does not mean worthy of being ignored, however. Here are a couple versions, one presented by Livio Cerini del Castegnate in A Tavola per Amare, and the other by Pellegrino Artusi, in The Art of Eating Well (my translation, Random House, 1996). In both cases you will have to marinate the meat, and both will also work with other furred game, for example hare or mountain goat.
Beginning with Mr. Cerini del Castegnate:
Assuming you have 2-3 pounds wild boar or other game, chop a couple of onions and cut two carrots into rounds, together with a rib of celery. Sauté the chopped vegetables in equal parts of olive oil and butter for about ten minutes, seasoning them with salt and an abundant dusting of freshly ground pepper. They should brown, and work them about with a spoon as you cook them. At this point add a bottle of dry white wine to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer it for a couple of minutes, then let it cool a little.
While it's cooling, wash and pat dry the boar, and put it in a bowl, with several peppercorns a couple of bay leaves, a sprig of rosemary, and some fresh sage. Pour the marinade over the meat, and marinate it in your refrigerator for 24-48 hours, turning the pieces occasionally.
Come cooking time, drain the meat and put it in a roasting pan, together with olive oil and minced cured lard or pancetta. Heat over a brisk flame, turning, until the meat is well browned; while you're browning the meat strain the marinade. Sprinkle the marinade over the meat a ladle at a time (you may want to add just some and heat the rest), then roast the meat in a 180 C (360 F) oven until tender, basting and adding more liquid as necessary. Assume a roasting time of a couple of hours.
While the meat is cooking prepare the sauce:
Bring a glass of white wine vinegar to a boil and keep it hot.
Set 4 heaping tablespoons of sugar in a pot and heat them, stirring with a spoon, until they begin to caramelize. Pour the hot vinegar over the sugar, return the pot to the fire, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Then add two tablespoons of baking chocolate that you have previously shredded so they will melt more easily, and stir to obtain a homogenous sauce. Add this point spoon out some of the drippings from the roasting pan, strain them and mix them into the sauce, together with pine nuts and candied fruit, in particular orange and citron peel, Sultana raisins, and pine nuts.
Rather than pour the sauce over the roast, serve it on the side so your diners will be able to sample it, and then take more. The wine? Barolo, or Amarone.
And here are Artusi's instructions for Cignale Dolce-Forte, Sweet and Pungent Boar:
"I think that the boar used to make sweet and pungent boar should have a finger thick layer of fat," he begins, "because boar fat remains firm when cooked, doesn't upset the stomach, and has a very pleasant flavor."
Assuming that the meat weighs about 2 1/4 pounds, begin by marinating it for twelve to fourteen hours in a marinade prepared as follows: set three cups of water and a half cup of vinegar to heat with three or four minced shallots, one or two bay leaves, a bunch of parsley, a little salt, and a pinch of pepper. Boil the mixture for five or six minutes, then let it cool and pour it over the meat.
Come time to cook it, mince a half an onion, half of a large carrot, two ribs of white celery the length of your palm, a pinch of parsley, and an ounce of prosciutto. Sauté the mixture in a pot with oil, salt, an pepper, and lay the boar over it so they cook at the same time. Turn the meat occasionally, and when it has browned on all sides, drain away most of the grease, sprinkle the meat with flour, and, pouring hot water over it every now and again, simmer it until it is done. Strain the sauce and return it to the pan, adding the ingredients for the sweet and pungent sauce:
(From my translation of Pellegrino Artusi's La Scienza in Cucina e L'Arte di Mangiar Bene.)
Beginning with Mr. Cerini del Castegnate:
Assuming you have 2-3 pounds wild boar or other game, chop a couple of onions and cut two carrots into rounds, together with a rib of celery. Sauté the chopped vegetables in equal parts of olive oil and butter for about ten minutes, seasoning them with salt and an abundant dusting of freshly ground pepper. They should brown, and work them about with a spoon as you cook them. At this point add a bottle of dry white wine to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer it for a couple of minutes, then let it cool a little.
While it's cooling, wash and pat dry the boar, and put it in a bowl, with several peppercorns a couple of bay leaves, a sprig of rosemary, and some fresh sage. Pour the marinade over the meat, and marinate it in your refrigerator for 24-48 hours, turning the pieces occasionally.
Come cooking time, drain the meat and put it in a roasting pan, together with olive oil and minced cured lard or pancetta. Heat over a brisk flame, turning, until the meat is well browned; while you're browning the meat strain the marinade. Sprinkle the marinade over the meat a ladle at a time (you may want to add just some and heat the rest), then roast the meat in a 180 C (360 F) oven until tender, basting and adding more liquid as necessary. Assume a roasting time of a couple of hours.
While the meat is cooking prepare the sauce:
Bring a glass of white wine vinegar to a boil and keep it hot.
Set 4 heaping tablespoons of sugar in a pot and heat them, stirring with a spoon, until they begin to caramelize. Pour the hot vinegar over the sugar, return the pot to the fire, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Then add two tablespoons of baking chocolate that you have previously shredded so they will melt more easily, and stir to obtain a homogenous sauce. Add this point spoon out some of the drippings from the roasting pan, strain them and mix them into the sauce, together with pine nuts and candied fruit, in particular orange and citron peel, Sultana raisins, and pine nuts.
Rather than pour the sauce over the roast, serve it on the side so your diners will be able to sample it, and then take more. The wine? Barolo, or Amarone.
And here are Artusi's instructions for Cignale Dolce-Forte, Sweet and Pungent Boar:
"I think that the boar used to make sweet and pungent boar should have a finger thick layer of fat," he begins, "because boar fat remains firm when cooked, doesn't upset the stomach, and has a very pleasant flavor."
Assuming that the meat weighs about 2 1/4 pounds, begin by marinating it for twelve to fourteen hours in a marinade prepared as follows: set three cups of water and a half cup of vinegar to heat with three or four minced shallots, one or two bay leaves, a bunch of parsley, a little salt, and a pinch of pepper. Boil the mixture for five or six minutes, then let it cool and pour it over the meat.
Come time to cook it, mince a half an onion, half of a large carrot, two ribs of white celery the length of your palm, a pinch of parsley, and an ounce of prosciutto. Sauté the mixture in a pot with oil, salt, an pepper, and lay the boar over it so they cook at the same time. Turn the meat occasionally, and when it has browned on all sides, drain away most of the grease, sprinkle the meat with flour, and, pouring hot water over it every now and again, simmer it until it is done. Strain the sauce and return it to the pan, adding the ingredients for the sweet and pungent sauce:
- 1/3 cup passolina raisins
- 1 ounce bitter chocolate
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 2 tablespoons diced candied orange peel
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Vinegar to taste, though you should go easy on it first, since you can always add more later.
(From my translation of Pellegrino Artusi's La Scienza in Cucina e L'Arte di Mangiar Bene.)
