Ciccioli Emiliani — Rendered Pork Fat Crackling

Emilia-Romagna — ciccioli are produced throughout the Po valley from the autumn pig slaughter. The preparation is ancient — it is the most economical use of the pork fat rendered for lard, producing a residue of crispy, flavourful pork that contains the Maillard products of the long rendering.

Ciccioli (grasini, sfrizzoli, or sfrizzuli in dialect) are the Emilian rendered pork fat preparation — the residue left after the lard is extracted from pork belly or back fat by slow rendering. The fat is slowly melted in a heavy pot over very low heat until all the liquid lard has been extracted and the remaining pork pieces have crisped to golden, slightly crunchy nuggets. These are the ciccioli — drained of excess fat, salted, and pressed into terracotta dishes or served loose. They have a texture between crackling and a deep-fried pork morsel, and a flavour that is simultaneously rich, slightly salty, and intensely porky. The Emilian tradition also makes ciccioli morbidi (soft ciccioli) — before the final crisping, the semi-rendered fat is mixed with salt and wine and pressed into a terrine.

Ciccioli warm from the pot, heavily salted and pressed into a terracotta dish, are one of the most satisfying savoury preparations in the Emilian canon. The texture is simultaneously crispy on the outside and slightly chewy within; the flavour is intensely pork, salt, and the slight bitterness of the Maillard crust. On warm piadina with a glass of Lambrusco, they are the Emilian aperitivo at its most direct.