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The Italian Maialatura, the Art of Dressing the Pig

Fifty years ago in many Italian-American families, a meal of pork began months before with dressing the pig, a process called the maialtura. The task could be done anytime from November to February, but many families began the chore as soon as the October wine was stored. Others saved the labor for after the Christmas holidays.
The preparation of the meal was mainly woman's work in an Italian-American home, but the preparation of the food before the meal belonged to everyone in the family, especially the men. The garden, the wine cellar, and the curing of pork products was definitely the work of the man. He brought his bounty to the kitchen where the woman turned it into food fit for the gods.
Once the pig was killed it was never refrigerated. Boiling water was poured over the carcass and the skin was scraped to remove dirt and hair. Then the pig was hung by its hind legs, scrubbed, and gutted. The organs--liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, intestines, and caul--were set aside to be used in various recipes. Then the carcass was cut to make prosciutto, salami, sausage, roasts, chops, blood pudding, lard, pork rinds, etc. Nothing was wasted. Here are a few recipes.

Pork Liver Wrapped in Web Fegatelli Avvolti con Rete di Maiale One of the first meals prepared from the dressed pork, and most exotic by today’s standards, was delicious tasting fegatelli, pork liver wrapped in web. The entire pork liver was cubed and prepared. Leftovers were placed in a deep crock, covered with rendered lard, and stored for future use. All the fat on the pig was rendered into lard, which was one of the most important products the pig gave the family. Before refrigeration lard was not only used for cooking, but, more importantly, to preserve foods. The web (caul) is essential for this dish for it bastes the liver and keeps it tender. It is the fatty, net-like membrane which covers the intestines of the pig.
Traditionally, fegatelli con rete di maiale is either fried in a pan or roasted over a wooden fire. The stems of fresh bay leaves are used as skewers, adding additional flavor. The recipe below is the fried version. 1 pork web (caul)* 1 whole pork liver 1/4-inch-thick slice pancetta 1/2 T salt 1/2 T pepper 1/3 cup fennel seeds 15-20 bay leaves 1/4 cup corn oil 5-8 wooden skewers

Soak the pork web in water for about 10 minutes, then lay it on a clean cloth. Top with a second cloth and gently roll the cloth into a roll. Let set until needed. Cut pancetta into 5-8 pieces.
Wash the pork liver and pat dry with a clean cloth. Cut into 2-inch squares. Cut away any fat or gristle. Allow to dry. Unwrap the web and cut into as many pieces as you have chunks of liver. Set aside.
In a flat dish combine salt and pepper. Mix. Place fennel seeds on another plate. Roll the individual pieces of pork liver in the salt and pepper mixture, then in the fennel seeds. Wrap the liver in a piece of the web. Take a wooden stick and skewer one bay leaf, wrapped liver, pancetta, bay leaf, second wrapped liver, and a final bay leaf. Pick up next skewer, continue until all the liver is skewered.
Place a medium-size iron skillet over medium-high heat. Heat to hot. Add oil. Heat to hot. Add liver and sear quickly on all sides. Lower the heat, cover, and cook 20 to 30 minutes.
Serve hot with good bread and endive salad (see page 224).
Serves: 4-6.
Note: *Caul, like blood and other specialty items from the pig, is only available from a farmer.

Sausage Salsiccia Sausage has become as much of an American institution as pasta. Almost every ethnic group has its own version. Italian sausage, like German sausage, has a number of varieties. Hot and savory sausage with garlic and red pepper is often found in southern Italian homes and referred to as Hot Sausage in the marketplace. A sweet sausage using cinnamon or cloves is a breakfast sausage in northern Italian homes.
Although fresh sausage is the most popular, aged, or dry sausage, salsiccia secca, is a Tuscan specialty that has not yet come of age in America. When it does it will sweep the country and appear as an appetizer in upbeat restaurants. The difference between fresh and dry sausage has nothing to do with ingredients. Once the sausage is made, it is hung in a cool, dry place, like a wine cellar. There is remains until it cures and hardens. It can be eaten cooked, but more often it is sliced like a salami, and eaten raw.
Sausage is easy to make, especially if one is satisfied with making patties instead of links.
Just as it was for most immigrants, sausage is a staple in our Italian kitchen. We prefer it spiced with garlic and nutmeg. Our cousins, the Pelini family from New Castle, Pennsylvania prefer it with garlic and fennel. Both Tuscan recipes are found below.
There are dozens of recipes in our book that use sausage as an ingredient. Sausage is the flavor that makes the Stuffed Mushrooms appetizer so tasty. Sausage as a sandwich appears as Sausage in a Blanket and Sausage with Onion and Green Pepper Sandwich. Sausage works well with eggs and is found in the Sausage Omelet and the Easter Pie. Accompanying pasta it is found in the Grand Lasagna with Sausage, Ricotta, and Bechamel and Polenta with Sausage. As a stuffing sausage is used in the Meatloaf Italian Style, the Suckling Pig in Porchetta, the Pork Pocket in Porchetta, and Roast Capon with Fennel and Oven Potatoes.
Sausage is easy to make, especially if one is satisfied with making patties instead of links. Links require a little more work for they need casings. A sausage casing is the thin intestine of the pig. Casings can be purchased from any supermarket and are usually packed in salt. Once the package of casings is opened it should be stored in the refrigerator and can be kept for over a year as long as casings are covered with salt. Some markets are willing to sell a few casings at a time. Pork Sausage with Garlic Salsiccia di Maiale con Aglio 4-1/2 pounds ground pork butt 2 large cloves garlic 1 T salt 1 T ground pepper 2 tsp. nutmeg 3-4 lengths pork casings Butcher cord

Sausage Patties
Ask your butcher to fine grind the pork butt. Place ground pork on a pastry board or in a large low pan. Peel garlic and press through a garlic press releasing the juices over the ground pork until very little pulp remains. Discard extra pulp. Sprinkle the meat with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg.
Using your hands, mix the ground pork for at least 15 minutes to be sure that all the seasonings are evenly distributed. Allow to stand for 10 minutes and taste for seasonings (if you do not want to taste raw pork, fry a little and then taste).
Form into patties. You can freeze sausage patties for more than a month.

Sausage Links
Ask your butcher to course grind the pork butt (if too fine it will be harder to stuff into the casings).
If you prefer to grind your own meat, ask the butcher to remove the bone from the pork butt. Cut pork butt into 1-inch cubes and run the cubes through a meat chopper with a coarse blade. Then follow the recipe for sausage patties (above). When the pork has been mixed it is time to stuff the casings.
Select 4 to 5 casings and soak them in cold water for a few minutes. Squeeze, wrap in a clean cloth, pat dry, and set aside.
Select a casing, find an end and blow into it with your mouth. It will blow up like a balloon. If it does not inflate, discard it, for there is a hole somewhere in the casing.

Gently place the end of the casing over the funnel (see A) of a meat grinder and slide it until all the casing is on the funnel (if casing resists, run a little meat through the funnel and then push the casing on--the meat greases the inside of the casing). Tie the opposite end in a knot.

Stuffing the Sausage
Slowly stuff meat into grinder and run through. It will begin to enter the casing (see B). These links should be 1-1/4-inches in diameter. Make sure stuffing is not packed too tight or casing will break (it might not break right away, but will when cooking). When you reach the end of the casing, remove it, place another casing on the funnel, and begin again. Continue until all meat is gone.

Making Links
Once all casings have been stuffed, tie sausage into 4-to-5-inch links (see C). Begin at end with cord. Measure (or judge) desired length, pinch sausage with your thumb and forefinger, wrap cord around dent forming a knot. Continue to the end.
Prick sausage with pin or needle 2 to 3 times in each link to release air that may be trapped in casings. Hang sausage over pole and allow to dry overnight. Place in cool cellar, refrigerator, or freezer.

Yield: 25-30 (4-inch) links, or 25 patties.

Variations
Breakfast Sausage (Salsiccia per Prima Colazione). Eliminate garlic, add 2 tsp. cinnamon or 2 tsp. cloves.
Fennel Sausage (Salsiccia con Finocchio). Boil 2 cloves garlic in 1/4 cup dry red wine. Discard garlic. Add wine and 1 T fennel to mixture.
Hot Sausage (Salsiccia Coppa). Keep garlic, add 2 T hot pepper.
Dried Sausage (Salsiccia Secca, stagionata). As sausages age they take on different textures and Nonno would hang them in the cellar. Dried sausage wrinkles up and is very good sliced and eaten like salami, uncooked. Age at least 40 days.
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This article is partially excerpted from the book Immigrant's Kitchen: Italian by Cassandra Vivian, Vivian Pelini Sansone, and Elizabeth Parigi Vivian. The 320-page book featuring 260 recipes accompanied by stories and traditions about the Italian-American way of life is available by sending $16.95 plus $3.00 shipping and handling (PA residents add 6% or $1.02 tax foreign residents send International Money Order including correct postage) to Cassandra Vivian, 333 Manown Street, Apt 102, Monessen PA 15062.