Cotechino

[Kevin72]

During the Holidays I usually cook two Italian staples: baccala and cotechino (not together, of course!). My main source in Dallas, Jimmy's Food Market, burned down in October

I thought that it would be easy enough to track down an internet or mail order source for these items but I'm not having any luck.

I've checked the usual suspects: Dean and DeLuca, Zingermans, and a host of other sites listed at the back of my various cookbooks, to no avail. I've google searched for cotechino by mail order and nothing. Does anyone out there know of confirmed sources to mail order cotechino from in the U.S.?

Baccala is available at our Central Market here but it's in small portions and is partially reconstituted, and I'm looking for some that I can take with me when I fly to the in-laws and cook the Feast of the Fishes on Christmas Eve. Worse comes to worse I can use Central but I'd rather get the stiff-as-a-board kind and take it with me.

[slkinsey]

Call Salumeria Biellese in Manhattan.

[Basilgirl]

Go to igourmet.com

I just placed my order for a cotechino after trying for two years - they're usually out of stock.

[Kevin72]

Call Salumeria Biellese in Manhattan.

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Their online catalogue didn't list it as something they had.

[Kevin72]

Go to igourmet.com

I just placed my order for a cotechino after trying for two years - they're usually out of stock.

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Awesome! Just ordered it, thanks!

Now who has a baccala source?

[slkinsey]

Call Salumeria Biellese in Manhattan.

Their online catalogue didn't list it as something they had.

They have it. Give them a call.

[Kevin72]

They have it.  Give them a call.

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Well I would if not for the igourmet recommendation upthread. I am hankering to order guanciale sometime soon and they will definitely be the first go-to.

[slkinsey]

Kevin, have you ever considered doing a zampone? They make those at Salumeria Biellese, too.

I am thinking of doing a big bollito misto party when it gets cold, and will definitely be getting one of those bad boys from Biellese.

[Kevin72]

Kevin, have you ever considered doing a zampone?  They make those at Salumeria Biellese, too.

I am thinking of doing a big bollito misto party when it gets cold, and will definitely be getting one of those bad boys from Biellese.

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1 of the 2 cotechinos (cotechini?) I ordered are for a bollito misto party, in fact.

I've been tempted on the zampone but I think I'd have a hard time convincing people to try it on the basis of the appearance alone. Hell, dinner guests get squirmy just hearing what's in cotechino.

I'm also getting the itch to try making my own. I have two books with recipes.

[Basilgirl]

Go to igourmet.com

I just placed my order for a cotechino after trying for two years - they're usually out of stock.

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Awesome! Just ordered it, thanks!

Now who has a baccala source?

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Did you get your cotechino(i?) yet? I got my order, and instead of the cotechino they substituted pancetta. I called and they said they were out of stock. I said the site said it was in stock when I placed my order, or else I wouldn't have ordered it.

[Basilgirl]

Kevin, have you ever considered doing a zampone?  They make those at Salumeria Biellese, too.

I am thinking of doing a big bollito misto party when it gets cold, and will definitely be getting one of those bad boys from Biellese.

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1 of the 2 cotechinos (cotechini?) I ordered are for a bollito misto party, in fact.

I've been tempted on the zampone but I think I'd have a hard time convincing people to try it on the basis of the appearance alone. Hell, dinner guests get squirmy just hearing what's in cotechino.

I'm also getting the itch to try making my own. I have two books with recipes.

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Kevin, um...what's in cotechino that makes guests squirm? Pig skin?

[slbunge]

Now who has a baccala source? 

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I bought my first of the holiday season in the North End (Boston's Italian neighborhood) this past weekend. Have yet to give it a shot.

The place has a website if you are still looking for baccala (click). You may want to call since it is a special holiday item and their website doesn't look terribly up to date.

[russ parsons]

he doesn't have an online presence, but darrel corti at corti brothers in sacramento has both of those things in his catalog. and you know with darrel you're getting the best product that is available.

[winesonoma]

he doesn't have an online presence, but darrel corti at corti brothers in sacramento has both of those things in his catalog. and you know with darrel you're getting the best product that is available.

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Phone is 916 736 3800 Fax is 916 736 3807

[Kevin72]

Did you get your cotechino(i?) yet? I got my order, and instead of the cotechino they substituted pancetta. I called and they said they were out of stock.  I said the site said it was in stock when I placed my order, or else I wouldn't have ordered it.

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The hell? I mean, they're not even remotely the same.

Not good. They emailed me just now and said it's on its way. What's their return policy?

[Kevin72]

Kevin, um...what's in cotechino that makes guests squirm? Pig skin?

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Yup. Plus it seems that quite a few people (or the ones I know anyway) are squeamish about sausage in general and take a don't ask don't tell approach. Serving them a stuffed pig's leg, hoof and all would put them over the edge.

[Kevin72]

Thanks, slbunge, Russ, and winesonoma for the baccala resources. I'll look into them.

[Kevin72]

Not good.  They emailed me just now and said it's on its way.  What's their return policy?

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Just checked their website. I haven't found a way to see what they actually shipped me yet but I did see that their return policy leaves some room for manuevering. It doesn't specifically say dissatisfaction with product received though.

[slkinsey]

Kevin, um...what's in cotechino that makes guests squirm? Pig skin?

Yup. Plus it seems that quite a few people (or the ones I know anyway) are squeamish about sausage in general and take a don't ask don't tell approach. Serving them a stuffed pig's leg, hoof and all would put them over the edge.

For the record, the "stuffed pig's leg, hoof and all" is a zampone, not a cotechino. Cotechino is just a large, highly spiced pork sausage. The filling is, I think, pork shoulder/neck/cheek and pork rind from the snout and cheek. It's got a lot of rind in it -- around the same amount of rind as meat. In fact, the name "cotechino" comes from "cotica" (pork rind).

[Kevin72]

Get ready to hate me, Basilgirl: I got both of the cotechinos I ordered.

[Tom]

Does anyone out there know of confirmed sources to mail order cotechino from in the U.S.? 

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Sonny D'Angelo in Philadelphia makes cotechino for New Year's, but I don't know if he ships it. Try D'Angelo Bros

[Kevin72]

I got my two in from i-gourmet. One went into a bollito misto for a dinner party and as predicted, it was the hit of the meal (though there was an awkward silence when I told everyone that one of its ingredients was pig skin). A number of people asked about where to get it and were impressed that I had to go online. It got pretty quiet at the table when there was only one piece left!

The second cotechino will be tomorrow night's dinner, with lentils, for a belated New Year's celebration.

[Tkrup]

I know it's after the holidays and this is a little late, but try these markets for the bacalhau. My inlaws buy it in Newark, and it's definately the kind you're looking for, not the sad stuff they sell in those little wooden boxes in regular supermarkets. Hope this helps, maybe one of them can ship some for you.

Seabra's Fish Market

119 Ferry St

Newark, NJ 07105

Main Phone: 973-589-5186

A & J SEABRA'S SUPERMARKET

1132 LIBERTY AVE.

HILLSIDE, NJ

Phone: (908) 351-5252

A & J SEABRA'S SUPERMARKET

260 LAFAYETTE ST.

NEWARK,NJ

Phone: (973) 589-8606

A CARAVELA

4946 NORTH 5TH ST.

PHILADELPHIA, PA

Phone: (215) 457-1481

A MINHOTINHA FOOD MARKET

204 JEFFERSON ST.

NEWARK, NJ

Phone: (973) 589-5913

A TRANSMONTANA

121 W. SIDNEY AVE.

MT. VERNON, NY

Phone: (914) 699-8188

A.J. SEABRA’S SUPERMARKET

64 PACIFIC ST.

NEWARK, NJ

Phone: (973) 589-8977

ABRANTES FOOD MARKET

521 HARRISON AVE.

HARRISON, NJ

Phone: (973) 483-7122

ADRIAN’S MARKET

157 QUINN ST.

NAUGATUCK, CT

Phone: (203) 729-6898

ALINA FOOD MARKET

1323 ALINA ST.

ELIZABETH, NJ

Phone: (908) 354-0120

ALVES HOME MARKET

444 RUBBER AVE

NAUGATUCK, CT

[Kevin72]

Thanks for the list! Sadly, I did rely on the wooden-box baccala this year. But next Holiday season, I'll definitely be digging this thread up again!

[albiston]

I love cotechino, the silky, juicy and fatty stuffing, the aromatic yet meaty aroma. The perfect dish to warm you up on a cold winter evening. Aren't pigs delicious?

With so many people looking for cotechino I started wondering: how did you cook yours? Any special side dishes to go with it?

For the cotechino-virgins out there I thought it would be nice to give some basic information on this delicious sausage.

Cotechino is a traditional sausage of Emilia Romagna; depending on who you listen to you might hear it comes from the provinces of Parma or more probably Modena, where it acquires the certified IGP origin denomination. It probably originates in the Middle ages (though some sources trace the origins to the early XVI century) as a peasant's sausage, being made with the rests from the newly butchered pig, mainly form the head.

From the XIX century onwards cotechino, and its more porky relative zampone (similar stuffing encased in the trotter's skin), started gaining popularity, counting gourmet and composer Rossini among its fans. It did not win everybody's approval though: Pellegrino Artusi, author of Italy's first popular cooking book in 1891, describes it as "not being a refined dish" fit to be served only to very good friends or family who'd not mind a rustic dish as this one.

What marked cotechino's rise into the table of the higher classes was, among others, a change in its recipe. With the introduction of Large White pigs in Italy a new ingredient was added to the sausage mixture, the pig's skin: the light skin of these pigs was definitely more apt to be used in cooking than the dark bristly one of the mediterranean pigs. The finely chopped skin, slowly releasing gelatin during the cooking process, gives cotechino its incredible silky texture.

Today most of the cotechino sold and eaten in Italy is produced by big food industries as precooked, vacuum packed product, which only needs to be warmed up. The industrial product is not bad, but it simply pales next to artisan cotechino. The difference is both in the quality of the meats and, even more noticeably, in the spices picked by the master salumi makers. Each one has his own special mix and cotechini from different artisans have marked aroma differences.

Cooking cotechino from scratch requires some patience. It has to be first soaked in cold water for at least four hours, better overnight. This step is necessary to remove some of the salt added to the stuffing to prevent the sausage from spoiling.

Once the cotechino is nicely soaked its skin has to be punctured all over, using a fork or toothpick . This prevents the skin from bursting during cooking and also has the function of allowing excess fat to flow out. Following this step the cotechino is either wrapped in cheesecloth and tied firm with some string or enclosed in a special elastic net available nowadays, to keep its shape during cooking.

As soon as the cotechino is safely tied up like a . . . sausage, it goes into a big enough pot submerged in cold water and is ready to be cooked at a slow boil for the next three hours. Once cooked the cotechino is left in its warm poaching liquid till serving time taking care to keep it warm til serving time.

Freed from strings and net, sliced into one cm slices, the cotechino is ready to be served ASAP or can be used for other recipes, for example encased in bread crust. If the cotechino is to be cooked/backed some more it is best to reduce the poaching time to two or two and a half hours.

Cotechino (and Zampone) are today often served as the main course of the New Year's eve dinner throughout Italy, almost inevitably with mashed potatoes and/or lentils. Lentils are traditionally seen as a symbol for coins and therefore money; eating these pulses during New Year's Eve is supposed to be auspicious for an economically successful year. I hope so, I've eaten my fair share this time .