Whether served roasted, grilled or boiled, what goes under the name of cotechino (codeghì in the local dialect) is, together with polenta, one of the most typical dishes of the Bergamo cuisine.
Production and storage
It is made from fresh pork from the leg, shoulder, or neck – and chin strap for the fat. Everything must be coarsely ground, and in order to obtain the taste and distinctive flavour of the finished product, the mixture must be added with black pepper, red wine, spices, herbs and fresh garlic crushed or brewed in wine. The mixture is then added with finely ground sea salt. Traditionally, the mixture was worked for a long time by hand, but now mixers are used.
The product is stuffed into natural casings so as to obtain a long sausage that is tied with a string in order to obtain shorter pieces of 10-12 cm. It is stored in a cool and ventilated place. The product is consumed mostly fresh, because its shelf-life is rather short.
Characteristics
The dimensions are very variable, but generally its diameter is about 8 cm and its length about 20 cm.
When cooked it has a characteristic taste, slightly greasy, and spicy. The aroma is distinctive.