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THE
GREAT PIEDMONTESE ‘BOLLITO
MISTO’
|
 This
is a tradition which survived intact
until the beginning of the 1960’s,
when it became a cherished, legendary
memory of the old-timers of the
village of Moncalvo, which together
with Carrù, was the historic
capital of the great bollito misto
piemontese and the “Fiera
del bue grasso”, the ‘Fat
Oxen Fair’. When it was still
dark, or at the first light of dawn,
on market days in the village, the
inns were already open, ready to
offer bowls of steaming tripe in
broth, warmed with a drop of wine,
to the stallholders and farmers
doing business. To warm the innards
and stomach there was nothing better
than tripe. Meanwhile at lunch time,
once business was over and everyone
could relax, long tables were set
out and it was time for bollito,
or ‘bùì’
in the local dialect. “The
great historic ‘bollito misto’
with all the best cuts from a white
fassone calf (the traditional version
was seven cuts, plus seven ‘tidbits’,
with seven sauces and side dishes)
is the best loved traditional Piedmontese
dish to have survived to the modern
day”, according to Giovanni
Goria. In Moncalvo they still serve
the original version. Seven cuts
of meat: chuck steak, short ribs,
round steak, shin, shoulder, brisket
and chuck tender. Seven ‘titbits’:
tongue, calf’s head, oxtail,
trotter, chicken, cotechino sausage,
stuffed round steak, and the classic
sauces: ‘al verde’ (a
piquant green sauce made of parsley,
garlic, anchovy and breadcrumbs),
tomato sauce, cognà or mostarda
d’uva, a kind of spicy chutney,
honey and horseradish. It is a rich,
delicious, simple dish. Onions studded
with cloves, garlic, peppercorns,
celery, parsley and carrots are
cooked together for a few minutes.
The cuts of beef and the chicken
should be added and simmered over
a low heat with the water covering
the meat. The tongue and calf’s
head are cooked in another pan,
and the cotechino sausage is also
cooked separately. |
| Ingredients
for 8 people: |
500
g round beef steak
an oxtail
500 g rump steak
a few small salamis
1 calf’s tongue
500 g calf’s head
1 cotechino sausage
1 chicken
1 onion
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 handful parsley
sea salt |
| To
make the bollito: |
Wash
the vegetables and chop roughly.
Wash the parsley and tie it in a
bunch. Take a large saucepan and
put it on the heat with the vegetables,
parsley and plenty of salted water.
When it comes to the boil add the
cuts of beef. Cook for an hour.
Add everything else except the calf’s
head and cotechino sausage and boil
for another two hours.
At the same time put a second pan
on the heat, with a generous quantity
of water, for cooking the cotechino
and salamini. Put the calf’s
head in a third pan with half water,
half beef stock. Heat up a serving
dish large enough to carry all the
meats.
Bollito should always be served
as whole pieces, and it is therefore
essential to have a carving dish
with a rim for catching the gravy,
and a carving knife and fork to
carve the various ingredients of
the bollito as your guests wish.
Once the bollito is on the serving
dish remember to sprinkle over a
little sea salt and pour on a few
ladlefuls of hot stock, to bring
out and enhance the flavour of the
meat.
Bollito does not require any particular
side dishes, but can be served simply
with potatoes or a few vegetables
if you wish. A green or mixed salad
can be served after the meat. The
sauces, on the other hand, are essential.
Serve with a good red wine, like
Barbera d'Asti.
|
 Wine
recommended:
Barbera
d'Asti
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