cured meat

sausage

What is that

Cotechino is a sausage to be cooked typical of northern Italy, based on meat and pork rind (trinomial nomenclature: Sus scrofa domesticus ). From the aesthetic point of view, cotechino looks very much like pot salami, while as far as filling is concerned it is totally similar to that of the zampone.

Differences with zampone and pot salami

Unlike the zampone and similarly to the pot salami, the cotechino is stuffed inside a gut (animal or synthetic), on whose ends a ligature is applied; on the other hand, like the zampone but dissimilar to the pot salami, in the filling, the cotechino also contains scraped pork rind, cleaned and cut into pieces. For this reason, cotechino and pot salami have a lower yield than zampone. The latter is also used for external cladding (hollow trotters), while cotechino and pot salami provide for the exclusion of the bagging fabric; to be honest, the latter is absolutely NOT harmful to humans (as it is made up of the intestine of the bovine or of a synthetic vegetable cellulose) but, due to its very poor organoleptic and taste characteristics, it is classified as a NON edible portion food.

Nutritional Properties

Cotechino is an artifact product composed of: meat, fat and rind and with salt, spices and wine. The filling of the cotechino is therefore completely overlapping with that of the zampone.

Cotechino is part of the 1st group of foods and its main macronutrients are proteins and fats. From the micronutritional point of view, on the other hand, iron and some B group vitamins stand out. According to the traditional recipe, cotechino should not contain carbohydrates of any kind even if, on an industrial level, it cannot be excluded that the sausage is added with milk flour (to increase the yield and favor its conservation); then, if the gut is also consumed, remember that some of the synthetic ones are made of vegetable cellulose that contains dietary fiber.

Cotechino is a preserved meat; it is a sausage to be cooked for a long time and not at excessive temperatures since, in the absence of an adequate heat treatment, the cotechino does NOT gain digestibility enough to be included among the edible foods.

History

Provenance and historical notes

By definition, cotechino is a sausage typical sausage from Emilia (Emilia Romagna region); in particular, it is believed that the birth and provenance of cotechino fall within the Modena area where, for several years, it has obtained a recognition of Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).

Cotechino is a much older product than zampone, although its recipe has obviously undergone countless variations throughout history. The first sausages date back to before the birth of Christ even if it is not clear what the real food composition was. On the other hand, if the zampone was a variant of the cotechino improvised by the Mirandolesi during the papal siege (second decade of the 16th century), it is logical to think that cotechino was already part of the food culture of the natives for a long time. In addition to Modena, cotechino is still widespread in: Ferrara, Mantua, Reggio Emilia, Parma and Cremona.

Description

Cotechino appears as a kind of short, stocky salami. It is distinguished from the zampone by a totally different conformation but, as regards the pan salami, the recognition of an inexperienced eye could be less simple than expected.

Compared to pot salami, even when it is raw, cotechino must have a coarse ground filling, with clear spots (made from the rind) evident and palpable with the hands. From cooked, to cutting, cotechino is less firm than pot salami; this is due to the fact that the pan salami, in addition to having a finer and more uniform ground, does NOT contain pieces of rind. This, being mainly composed of collagen, tends to gel (and become translucent) during cooking; this causes a loss of consistency and a lower compactness of the cotechino compared to the pot salami.

WARNING! Generally, the sausages owe their compactness to the degree of dehydration obtained by adding salt and following the seasoning (which in the cotechino and in the pot salami must be short). Excessive compactness, poor water loss during cooking and a "smooth" raw surface can reveal (for both) the use of milk flour as a preservative and / or absorbent. Moreover, both for the cotechino and for the pot salami, an excessively rosy color after cooking indicates the presence of antioxidant additives such as: sodium nitrite and ascorbic acid.

The average weight of a cotechino is about 400-600g for a length of 25-30cm.

Production

Cotechino production is similar to that of the zampone. The ground mixture of cotechino is mainly based on: lean meat (shoulder, thigh and head; in total about 35%), fatty meat (especially throat and cheek; in total about 35%) and rind (in total approx. 30%); as anticipated, the proportions of the ingredients have varied considerably over the course of history and still, among the various producers, there are also significant composition discrepancies.

To the beaten are added: salt, wine, pepper and spices such as: cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg etc. After the dough the bagging occurs in the gut (clean and pretreated); finally, it is also essential to have a binding / stitching of the vertices to prevent the filling from escaping during cooking.

Cotechino can be sold fresh (or better, after a very short seasoning) or pre-cooked. The latter is subjected to a very characteristic heat treatment; the cotechino is placed in aluminum bags and cooked in large steam ovens for about 5 hours, reaching a temperature ≥80 ° C at the heart of the food. Finally, it is vacuum-packed, boxed and labeled. These products are often added with: antioxidants, preservatives and absorbents; obviously, the advantage of a precooked cotechino compared to the fresh one lies in the shelf life. The pre-cooked product reaches a shelf-life of many months at room temperature. On the other hand, for what concerns the palatability, the fresh is exponentially more pleasant.

In the kitchen

Fresh cotechino must be cooked long, in "cold water" or in a pressure cooker; the precooked one, on the other hand, has a greater consumption convenience (shorter cooking times). Cotechino, like zampone, should be served with challenging side dishes, for example: mashed potatoes and stewed lentils. The most suitable food-wine pairing with cotechino is undoubtedly the one with local red wines, full bodied and degreasing: Lambrusco di Sorbara, Oltrepo 'Pavese di Pinot Nero or Aquileia Merlot.

Cotechino with Lentils, how to cook it with low fat

Feel like cotechino but scared of too many calories? Don't worry, with some simple "trucchetti" it is possible to prepare a cotechino with lighter lentils and digestible. Watch the video or access the detailed recipe card

Cotechino and Lentils

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Nutritional properties

Cotechino is a fatty and very caloric food; does not lend itself to weight loss and, in general, should be consumed by everyone only during the Christmas holidays.

The energy intake of cotechino is given above all by lipids (mainly saturated) which, in the presence of high amounts of cholesterol, exclude this sausage from the diet of hypercholesterolemics.

Cotechino is rich in high biological value proteins; among other things, contrary to what many suspect, the rind used in the formulation of the dough helps to increase the fraction of this nutrient and not so much that of fats. The rind, as anticipated, is mainly made up of collagen (protein), while the throat and the cheek are mainly used to promote the energy content of cotechino (about 35% of the raw dough).

As far as mineral salts are concerned, cotechino contains above all bio-available iron and considerable sodium concentrations. We recall that this last electrolyte, if in excess in the diet, can increase the risk of onset for hypertension or promote its severity. Cotechino is NOT recommended for hypertensives, hypertensive potentials and, in general, for all those who have a high cardiovascular risk.

Regarding vitamins, cotechino should be abundant in water-soluble vitamins of group B; obviously, during the long cooking of the food, it is logical to deduce that the thermolabile portion of these micronutrients is almost completely lost.

Nutritional values

Nutritional composition for 100g of Cotechino, pre-cooked packaged; Cotechino, packaged precooked, [boiled for 20 'inside the package and drained from the liquid produced by cooking] - Reference values ​​of the Food Composition Tables - INRAN

Cotechino, pre-cooked packagedCotechino, packaged precooked - annealed and drained
Edible part100.0%100.0%
water36.8g51.4g
Protein17.2g21.1g
Prevailing amino acids-Glutamic acid, aspartic acid, alanine
Limiting amino acid--
Lipids TOT42.3g24.7g
Saturated fatty acids- g8.18g
Monounsaturated fatty acids- g11.84g
Polyunsaturated fatty acids- g3.48g
Cholesterol- mg98.0mg
TOT Carbohydrates0.0g0.0g
Starch0.0g0.0g
Soluble sugars0.0mg0.0mg
Dietary fiber0.0g0.0g
Soluble0.0g0.0g
Insoluble0.0g0.0g
Power450.0kcal307.0kcal
Sodium1138.0mg875.0mg
Potassium178.0mg137.0mg
Iron1.8mg1.5mg
Football20.0mg15.0mg
Phosphorus109.0mg- mg
Thiamine- mg0.20mg
Riboflavin- mg0.16mg
Niacin7.30mg3.00mg
Vitamin A- µg- µg
C vitamin0.0mg0.0mg
Vitamin E- mg- mg