Claudia Romeo: You may know
it by the name of capocollo, coppa, capicola, gabagool -- dozens of names to describe
one Italian delicacy: a distinctive cured meat
made from pork neck, easy to spot thanks to its vivid red color and beautiful marbling. Unlike ham, the fat in pork
neck makes capocollo a soft, tender, and incredibly tasty cut. We're in the countryside
of Martina Franca, Italy, and today we're going to talk about one of the country's finest capocollo, capocollo di Martina Franca. This type of capocollo is very special because it's made from pigs
that feed only on acorns from a local tree, fragno. And it doesn't stop there. The tree is also very important
in the making process. Let's go find out more. Claudia: The piece Giuseppe
works with is a big one, about 3 or 4 kilos, which at the end of the curing process will lose about 50% of its weight. The meat is then seasoned
with salt, pepper, and a touch of Senise chili pepper, a variety of chili pepper coming from the neighboring region of Basilicata that adds a sweet,
smoky scent to the meat. The capocollo then cures for 15 days, and every couple of days
it is rubbed by hand to ensure it absorbs all
the flavors from the spices. Unlike other types of capocollo that would go straight to dry-curing, this one is also brined for six hours. But this brine is not your
average water and salt -- it's vincotto, cooked grape must. Grape must is that thick,
fresh juice you get when crushing grapes to make wine. Its freshness also makes it high in sugar, a perfect sweetener but also a drink. After casing it, Giuseppe
pierces the capocollo to allow excess air out, firmly tying a string to it to be able to hang it during the curing. To make sure the capocollo has a perfect cylindrical shape, he first wraps it with a sock and then puts it through
a custom-made funnel. Claudia: Wow. The goal now is to remove all the excess liquid from the meat. This drying phase will happen gradually in three different
temperature-controlled environments. The first one is a drying room, where the meat will spend seven days and lose all of its liquids,
like grape must and blood. The second, a pre-curing room, is a room with high humidity levels to reintroduce some
moisture into the meat. Claudia: After another seven
days in the pre-curing room, the meat reaches the final destination of its curing process, the curing room. It will stay here for 150 days. Claudia: At the end of the 150 days, it's time to remove the socks to finally reveal the
capocollo hiding inside. Wow. Claudia: Giuseppe tricked me when he said the capocollo is calling us to taste it. We still have another
step to see: the smoking. To better understand just how much this step affects the final product, we need to go back to the forest that is so dear to Giuseppe. While he removes all the socks, his son Andrea tells me more about the local oak tree, fragno. [Andrea calling to pigs] [pig grunting] Claudia: Spreading from
the Balkans to Turkey, the Itria Valley is
the only place in Italy where you can find this type of oak. The fertile soils of this hilly farmland, together with the very Italian practice of curing pork neck, makes capocollo from Martina Franca a truly unique product. After breathing the crisp
air of the Court of Fragni, I rejoin Giuseppe in the smoking room, or the "black room,"
as he likes to call it. [meat crackling] Wow. Mm. Hey, we have a new project that we're really excited to show you. Here's the trailer. Herrine Ro: So, what are
you gonna show us today? Daniel Boulud: Well, I love wine. This is a Japanese knife. Herrine: What do you use
this for at the restaurant? Daniel: We use it for, of course, meat, steaks, ducks, roast. It move and cut, and cut, and cut. It's indestructible! C'est bon? Herrine: Yeah, it's great. If you like the look of that, subscribe to Food Insider and tune in tomorrow to
watch the full episode.
It better be pristine neck meat or I send it back
“The fucking pork neck” 😂 I know that’s not what she said but it’s what she said