Windy conditions with plastic plates and beakers flying through the air but nobody seemed to care as the annual Porchetta – Pig Roast got underway in Barga this morning. More than 80 friends and family gathered round the tables set out in a field with the delicious aroma of roast mingling with the wood smoke as the chef who had been working since 5 am set out a 60 kilo pig on the carving table and the festa was in full swing.

It used to be held further up the mountain at Bebbio (in fact we have reported on it more than once (article here) but the Pig Roast which was started by a group of friends back in 2000 just keeps on growing and has now moved down into the valley.

[Click here for slideshow]

Porchetta is a savory, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition. The body of the pig is gutted, boned, arranged carefully with layers of stuffing, meat, fat, and skin, then rolled, spitted, and roasted, traditionally over wood. Porchetta is usually heavily salted in addition to being stuffed with garlic, rosemary, fennel, or other herbs, often wild. Porchetta has been selected by the Italian Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali as a “prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale” (“traditional agricultural-alimentary product”, one of a list of traditional Italian foods held to have cultural relevance).

Click on the link below to hear Claudio talking about the Porchetta (in Italiano)

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On this day..

• Vendemmia 2009 - 2009
• Mister Moscardini - Premio nazionale di poesia - 2009
• Sauro Donati Quartet at Villa Moorings - 2007
• Natale celebrates 80 years on the planet - 2007
• Rain does not stop the Scottish Wedding - 2007