in an area of rolling golden landscapes with here and there some magical hill towns, I arrive in Ariccia where I meet Nicoló Romagnolo of the porchetta company Cioli Egidio. Nicoló: “70 years ago, my great-grandfather started this business. It was a very different world then and he had to be inventive to survive. He bought the pigs in Umbria and processed them here, in Ariccia. With very rudimentary equipment, he cut the meat and then marinated it with herbs. At first, the meat was simply roasted in the village oven. Great-grandfather Egidio processed and sold the meat. From the second generation onwards, the two sons continued separately. Besides the company Cioli Egidio there was a separate Cioli srl. in Ariccia. “
Nicoló: “Porchetta is very popular in central Italy (Lazio, Abruzzo, Le Marche, Umbria, Tuscany, Emiglia Romania). Meanwhile, it is marketed throughout Italy and already famous abroad. It is an undisputed protagonist of feasts and village festivals and is unique because of its thousand-year history.”
The beautiful pig from Ariccia with a bunch of rosemary in its belly
“Just like my many nieces and nephews I was born into this product. The pig with the rosemary in its belly is my life. We are now 100 years further on. I first studied abroad: Australia, Dubai, … I spent 10 years gaining knowledge elsewhere. And yet I wanted to take up the challenge here. It was not easy to translate all my foreign experiences into a traditional family business. I want to get there step by step. Together with my family. It takes persitence. Our product is highly apprecited and that gives me great pleasure.
What we do here is much more than just making food. The culture of food is so important to us that we are very committed to the basic ingredients. We also make products from the other parts of the pig. So that we don’t have to throw anything away. We are very good at this. It is our way of life!”
Porchetta addresses
Cioli Egidio, Via Variante di Cancelliera, Ariccia
Bontà di Cioli, Piazza di Corte 3, Ariccia
Antico Grottino, Piazza di Corte 15, Aricca
Porchetta Diana Aricino, Piazza di Corte 1, Ariccia