Lentils are one of the oldest foods while cotechino was born during the siege of Mirandola in the 16th century. History, meaning, secrets and recipes of a must for New Year's Eve: a wish for a 2021 full of hope
This year, for everyone, the rite will be celebrated at home: cotechino (or zampone) with lentils as a first course of the new year. It is a greedy ritual, which combines the abundance of a very Italian salami – as far as possible from the light concept (semel in year licet insanire, we agree, given that it is the dinner par excellence) – the imposing meaning of first legume grown in history. There are testimonies of harvests carried out five thousand years ago, not to mention the social aspect, including the religious one: it is easy to think of the episode of the lentil dish between Esau and Jacob, one of the most cited in the Old Testament.
Castelluccio, the IGP lentils
The permanent presence of lentils after midnight on December 31st is due to the Romans that beyond the pleasure of taste, considered the legume as an investment for the months to come and gave it a full pouch – the leather bag to keep tied to the belt – on the last day of the year. The hope is that they would turn into sound coins, but badly they ended up in the pot. And for the less well-off, a real wealth remained, given the high nutritional value. Italy abounds in excellent lentils, starting from the two PGIs that touch Castelluccio of Norcia (on the border between Marche and Umbria) and the Apulian Altamura: the important thing is that before cooking them over low heat – they must be soft, but not undone – should be soaked in the night between 30 and 31.
Pico's (culinary) genius
As for the beloved cooked salami, it will not boast the spirituality of the legume, but it has medieval and noble origins, due (apparently) to the genius of Pico della Mirandola, in 1511: he advised the Mirandolesi, besieged by papal troops, to slaughter the few pigs left in the stables by putting the meat inside the legs and rind of the poor pigs, with lots of spices. Twist: the product was very good, perhaps fatter than those we will eat on New Year's Day but they were under siege and had other problems … Cotechino is zampone – so different in appearance – they still have the same filling: lean and fat pork, coarsely minced, combined with the animal's rind, very finely chopped. All flavored with pepper, nutmeg, cloves, depending on the secret hand of the butcher, also some artisan producers add cinnamon and even wine.
Cotechino and zampone
But then the difference? It is the casing: the pig's leg, strictly the front one, for the zampone; the natural or artificial casing for cotechino. The first is a little more consistent in terms of calories, because the rind of the leg releases fat during cooking, but the second also doesn't mess with calories. The content varies from norcino to norcino, but the skilfully spiced dough tends to include 60% of fresh lean meats (shoulder, leg, neck and shank pulp), 20% tender rind and 20% throat, bacon and bacon.
A Bottura passion
Where is it at the top? It cannot be said that far from Modena they are of poor quality, but the history and the only Italian IGP – for both – make the city of Ghirlandina and Massimo Bottura (who is crazy about it, he says so serenely) the Italian capital. Last question: better fresh or pre-cooked? It depends on the time available. In the first case, cotechino or zampone should be pricked, wrapped in a cloth or in aluminum foil, placed in a pot with cold water and left to boil for at least a couple of hours. In the second, however, 20/30 minutes in boiling water are enough. With the same producer, there is no match: the first wins …
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