The Dish from Rome: Braised Oxtail - Coda alla Vaccinara
Much of the food of Rome is based on cucina povera. Offal, the quinto quarto, is a huge part of this cuisine. The quinto, “fifth” quarter of the animal, includes the "lesser" cuts and the innards. Rich folks took the premier cuts of meat. The poor, making due with what was left, cooked the hell out of these pieces, establishing the cuisine of Rome, that still thrives today. They caressed the flavors from these tough unwanted pieces into dishes as rich as Rome’s history, with layers of flavors running as deep as the ancient cities lying below Rome. Coda alla Vaccinara (braised oxtail) is one of these dishes. The tail is slowly cooked, tenderizing the meat, and releasing flavors from the tailbone that give the dish an intense meatiness.
One August afternoon, I chatted with the chef at Capo di Ferro in Trastevere about La Coda. I had their version, served as a rich ragu with rigatoni. I became an instant fan. Over an after-lunch limoncello, the chef told me how he makes it, emphasizing that a main ingredient is patience. The dish requires four hours to cook and a lot of stirring,” he warned. Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day, so a truly Roman dish should take some time...
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