Bollito Misto

This is one of the grandest dishes of Northern Italian gastronomy, native to the regions that traditionally raise beef, veal, chicken and pork. Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and the Veneto are all famous for this dish and in some regions it is sometimes called simply bollito or lesso (from lessare, meaning to boil). The mixture should contain at least four different types of meat, including some sausages that are cooked separately.

Typical meats used include brisket of beef, veal cheek and breast, capon or chicken, tongue, pork belly and stuffed or plain pigs’ trotters. When everything is cooked, the meats are sliced and served with some of the flavouring vegetables and some sauces. In Piedmont, salsa verde or green sauce, is served with the bollito, while in Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna a salsa rossa or red sauce, based on onions, tomato and chilli, and some mostarda di Cremona, accompany the dish.