I did not have any cinghiale al mirto in Sardinia, but I did bring home dried myrtle berries. In Sardinia they may also use the greens and fresh berries, but those are hard (if not impossible) to come by here in the Netherlands. Myrtle berries are used to make a liqueur called mirto (recipe coming up once my batch is finished) and they are also used for stews and roasts. To make it even more Sardinian, I decided to cook the wild boar with myrtle berries as well as Cannonau di Sardegna, the island’s most famous red wine (the grape variety is known as grenache noir in France or garnacha in Spain). The neck of wild boar cooked sous-vide in this sauce and then served with it, was absolutely delicious. Since the myrtle berries release all their flavor into the sauce, it is best to discard those and add a fresh batch to the sauce. The recipe for the vegetable side that can be seen in the background will follow soon.
Ingredients
For 2 servings
about 350 grams (.75 lbs) wild board neck (shoulder would work, too)
4 Tbsp (20 grams) dried myrtle berries, divided
180 ml (3/4 cup) red wine, preferably Cannonau di Sardegna
50 grams (1/3 cup) minced carrot
50 grams (1/3 cup) minced onion
50 grams (1/3 cup) minced celery
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
Pat the meat dry with paper towels and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper on all sides.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and brown the meat on all sides over medium-high heat.
When the meat is nicely browned, transfer it to a plate and set aside.
Add minced carrot, celery, and onion to the fat remaining in the frying pan, and season with salt.
Stir over medium heat with a wooden spatula, scraping along the bottom to include all the browned bits in the sauce, until the vegetables are golden, 5 to 10 minutes.
Deglaze with 180 ml of red wine.
Add 2 tablespoons of dried myrtle berries and bring to a boil. Once it boils, reduce the heat and cook until reduced by half. Then turn off the heat.
Add the juices that leaked out of the browned meat to the sauce as well. (If you still believe that browning meat will “seal in the juices”, here is your proof that it doesn’t. We only brown the meat to give it more flavor.)
Now to vacuum seal for cooking sous-vide you have three options:
- For a chamber vacuum sealer, allow meat and sauce to cool to refrigerator temperature, then vacuum seal.
- For a FoodSaver (clamp) vacuum sealer, freeze the sauce so you can vacuum seal the meat with the sauce without having the vacuum sealer suck out the sauce.
- Or use a ziplock bag and the water displacement method. You can do this without having to wait for the meat and sauce to cool down.
Cook sous-vide for 2 days (about 48 hours) at 57C/135F for a fillet texture. If you prefer flaky/well done, cook 24 hours at 74C/165F.
When you take the meat out of the sous-vide, cut the bag open and pour the sauce into a saucepan. Wrap the meat in aluminum foil to keep it warm while you finish the sauce.
If you like, replace the myrtle berries with new ones so they will have more flavor when you eat them and they will give off a great aroma. Soak the new berries in a small amount of cold water for an hour or so to soften them first.
Mix a teaspoon of cornstarch with a teaspoon of cold water and add this slurry to the sauce.
Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring, until it thickens. Turn off the heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Slice the meat and serve it with the sauce on preheated plates.
Wine pairing
It goes without saying this is great with a Cannonau di Sardegna. If you can’t find it, another grenache/garnacha-based wine such as a southern Côtes-du-Rhône would work as well.
Flashback
Blecs is a pasta shape from Friuli. Blecs are triangular, square or lozenge shaped fresh pasta, similar to quadrucci or maltagliati. I tasted them for the first time at Trattoria Ai Cacciatori in Friuli, where the blecs were made with nettles and served with a ragù of lamb and crunchy vegetables. This was a delicious dish, and in this post I present something very similar.
It looks beautiful, I can see that lovely lovely pink of the meat… well done… maybe u should write a sardinian cookery book 🙂
did u try also their biscuits? they have an amazing tradition in that area, sometimes richly decorated… strange piece of Italy, I must say… in a way it did not feel Italy somehow. beautiful land. (and excellent pecorino cheese!!!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes it is very beautiful. No I did not try much of the sweets.
LikeLike
Great looking dish, nicely executed, surely very tasty 🙂
Life is Good !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Frustrating! Oh, I am certain there are plenty of wild boar rushing around the Australian country side . . . but buying such in a shop is another matter. Love your usage of the berries, so pieces of some old pig may find their way into my pot . . .
LikeLiked by 3 people
Well detailed post for what has to be to be a fantastic feed. Never having tasted the berry, I jumped over to Google to see what I could learn. Interesting berry. We love cooking with Juniper berry, so this peaked my interest.
Vildsvin (wild boar) is no problem as it’s currently available in our freezer. Hopefully, our local Middle Eastern spice and herb shop will have Myrtle Berry. If not, I’ll use juniper berries and a tad of allspice. This sounds so good and we’re always looking for new ways to cook wild boar. – Thanks
LikeLiked by 1 person
You could also use blueberries as a substitute, or a mixture of blueberries and juniper berries.
LikeLike
Thanks for the suggestion.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Non ho mai assaggiato il cinghiale …
LikeLike
Davvero? Ma sei italiana?! Neanche le pappardelle al ragù di cinghiale?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hai ragione, il ragù che mi ha fatto una volta un’amica in Toscana.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sto facendo il ragù al cinghiale per la cena domani 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
E’ una lunga cottura, complimenti!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Looks delicious as always, lovely pairing of flavours and plating!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always superb Stefan. Di che materiale è la padella che usi per rosolare la carne?
LikeLiked by 1 person
La padella è di acciaio inox 18/10, ma di una lega speciale che non può superare i 250 gradi su una fornello a induzione. (ControlInduc di Demeyere)
LikeLike
Sembri ottenere gli stessi risultati che ho con la Mineral-B di Debuyer. Sicuramente la tua padella ha una manutenzione molto piu semplice!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ho anche una padella di Duboyer, che uso come padella antiaderente. Per questa ricetta si deve infatti aderire un po’ la carne e hai ragione che la manutenzione è semplice: la lavastoviglie 🙂
LikeLike
Where do you buy the cinghiale in The Netherlands??
LikeLike
I buy it at Hanos. Specialized butchers (poeliers) also sell it.
LikeLike