Fagioli con le Cotiche Romane

Rome, Lazio

Rome's bean and pork rind soup — dried cannellini beans slow-cooked with softened pork rinds (cotiche), celery, tomato, and chilli in a rich, gelatinous broth. The cotiche are prepared separately: boiled, scraped, and rolled up before being added to the beans — they release collagen into the cooking liquid, creating a naturally thickened broth. A quintessential Roman cucina povera preparation, served throughout winter in trattorie as a primo. The beans should be completely tender but not falling apart; the cotiche should be soft, sticky, and gelatinous.

• Beans cooked with pork rinds for collagen-richness — feijoada is the direct descendant of this Ibero-Roman tradition via Portugal → Feijoada — black beans with pork rinds, ears, tails, and feet in a thick gelatinous broth Brazilian
• Dried beans braised with pork rind and knuckle for a gelatin-enriched broth — the same logic across different European traditions → Bohnensuppe mit Schweinshaxe — bean soup with pork knuckle and rind German
• White bean and pork rind braise as the base — French cassoulet is the same Gallo-Roman tradition elaborated with confit and duck → Cassoulet — white beans braised with pork rinds, confit duck, and sausage French

Cannellini bean earthiness; gelatinous pork rind richness; tomato acidity; chilli heat; deeply sustaining Roman winter dish