A dish about courage, blood and belonging.
🔴 A Color You Don't Forget
It is not a dish for everyone.
Neapolitan soffritto stands out immediately: dark, dense, fiery red.
It tastes of time, of the earth, of blood (literally and symbolically). It is the dish that more than any other divides, excites, moves.
He who loves it, does not forget it. Those who cook it, respect it.
It is not improvised: you inherit.
🐷 A Kitchen Of Necessity Became Pride.
Sautéing originated from that part of the kitchen that did not throw anything away.
From the scraps. From the innards. From the less noble cuts of the pig.
But in Naples, from time immemorial, humility is transformed into greatness.
And so, what was “poor” becomes a cult dish.
Sautéing is done with the heart (in the true sense of the word): spleen, lung, trachea, spices, red wine, and lots and lots of chili.
The result? A carnal, ancient dish that tastes of truth.
🧄 A Perfume That Fills the Alleys.
Those who grew up in Naples know: the smell of soffritto can be smelled before you even get home.
It’s pungent, spicy, deep.
It comes out of the pots in the low-rise kitchens, climbs the stairs, invades the buildings.
And in certain neighborhoods, especially on cold days, it is the aroma that tells that everything goes on, that simple things endure.
📝 The Sunday Dish... But Not For Everyone
Stir-fry is not cooked every day. It is a dish that requires time and willingness.
And it is often prepared in large quantities: once you do it, you do it for real.
👉 Some people eat it with bread.
👉 Others use it to season broken ziti.
👉 Some keep it “pignatiello,” ready for the right occasion.
🍽️ Cooking is giving, even to oneself
You often cook for others, but the real magic happens when you you do it for yourself, too.
You don’t need to be a chef or prepare complex dishes: even a simple homemade loaf of bread can become an act of love toward oneself.
Cutting, mixing, kneading-these are movements that take root in the present.
And the present, when you feel in it, is less scary.
There is a word that accompanies food in many cultures: “care.”
Why cooking care, in an affective and emotional sense. It is a way to express what we cannot always say.
It is language, it is memory, it is presence.
did you know that?
👉 Neapolitan soffritto is traditionally prepared in the winter period, often after the pig is slaughtered, so that no part of the animal is wasted.
👉 In dialect, the dish is called “‘o suffritt'” and is not to be confused with sautéed onion and oil: here we are talking about a real gravy of innards, wine and chili pepper.
👉 It was considered a “man’s” dish because of its intensity and spiciness … but in reality it was almost always prepared by female hands.
👉 In many homes it is kept “a pignatiello” (small earthenware container) to enjoy in the following days, often spread on bread.
the Recipe
This post is also available in: Italiano
