Clelia Furlan's Wild Boar Paiz

Clelia Furlan did a takeover on the Lecker instagram introducing followers to the varied delights of the food of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Here is one of her family recipes.

This Christmas, my mum managed to get hold of 2 kg of wild boar meat. (Don’t ask how. She has her ways). While culinary traditions in Friuli-Venezia Giulia include many game-based dishes, neither of us had ever actually cooked any. But we weren’t going to let that stop us: after consulting a knowledgeable friend or two and perusing this wonderfully illustrated old cookbook, we decided to go for a traditional, local “paiz”, a.k.a. a marinade-type concoction in which the meat has to rest and then cook for several hours and which is later turned into a delicious gravy. The result was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself, and also a really fun Christmas food project – see below for a step-by-step guide to our paiz!  

Step 1: collect your wild boar meat from your dealer
Step 2: make the paiz! Which is:
-½ l of red wine
-½ glass of red wine vinegar
-3 bay leaves
-1 small branch of rosemary
-3-4 sage leaves
-5-6 black peppercorns
-5-6 juniper berries
-1 shallot with 3 cloves impaled into it
-3-4 branches of wild thyme
-1 pinch of grated nutmeg
-1 celery stalk
-1 carrot

Step 3: put in a pan and bring to the boil, simmer for 5-10 minutes. Let cool, then pour over the meat and put in the fridge for about 24 hours.

Step 4: the following day. Heat up some olive oil in a pan, then thinly slice and very slowly fry an onion, a celery stalk, and a carrot.

Step 5: Gradually add the meat to brown it, then add the filtered paiz on top; slowly add vegetable stock if needed so the meat stays covered and doesn’t dry up. Let simmer on super low heat for 4-5 hours.

Step 5: take out the meat and put the paiz in a blender to turn into gravy.

Step 6: enjoy with a carb-y side! The house recommends polenta (we are in Northern Italy after all...)