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Italian · V The Canonical Dishes · Calabria

Stufato di Maiale alla Calabrese — Pork Braised with Sweet Peppers and Nduja

Calabria

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I

Origin

Calabria — the combination of dried sweet peppers and nduja in pork preparations is specifically Calabrian and reflects the depth of the Calabrian dried pepper tradition. The preparation is found throughout the Calabrian interior, most strongly in the Vibo Valentia and Cosenza provinces.

II

Description

Stufato di maiale alla calabrese is the Calabrian pork braise — shoulder or neck pieces slow-braised with sweet dried peppers (peperoni rossi essiccati — whole dried sweet peppers), nduja stirred in at the end, and finished with fresh basil and raw olive oil. The dried sweet pepper dissolves into the braising liquid and creates a deep, slightly smoky, sweet-red sauce. The nduja, added in the last 10 minutes, dissolves and disperses its spiced fat through the sauce. The combination of sweet dried pepper and spiced nduja produces a flavour complexity that is specifically and intensely Calabrian.

III

The Thread

—Pork braised with multiple dried pepper varieties dissolved into a complex, layered sauce — the Mexican estofado with dried chillies and the Calabrian stufato di maiale with dried sweet peppers and nduja share the principle of dried peppers dissolved into a braising medium to create a richly coloured, complex sauce for pork Mexican
—Pork braised with dried sweet peppers (choricero peppers) dissolved into the sauce — the Spanish tradition of using rehydrated and dissolved ñora or choricero peppers in pork braises and the Calabrian use of dried sweet Calabrian peppers in stufato di maiale are parallel preparations using the same sweet dried pepper dissolution technique Spanish
IV

Flavour Context

Stufato di maiale alla calabrese in the bowl is deeply red-orange from the dissolved peppers and nduja — the pork has absorbed all the flavours of the long braise; the sauce is thick and slightly sticky, intensely fragrant with sweet pepper and spiced nduja. The fresh basil adds a clean note of contrast. With Calabrian pane di casa, it is the most forcefully flavoured pork preparation in the Italian repertoire.

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