Cotenna, Cotica

Slightly fatty pork skin is very gelatinous and strong and is usually used for making the skins of certain types of sausage. It is also minced and used to make zampone or cotechino. In some parts of Italy, such as Piedmont, most of the fat is removed from the skin and it is then richly spiced with pepper, salt, nutmeg and parsley, rolled up, bound with string and boiled for a couple of hours until it is soft. It is usually eaten with stewed beans and a little mustard. The gelatinous taste is delicious. In Piedmont, they use it in the famous speciality called Tofeja. Today, the cotenna is sold ready-prepared by butchers. Ham rind is also used to impart flavour to any bean or vegetable soup. Once it has been used, however, it is usually so hard that it has to be discarded.