Northern Italy tradition holds that buona fortuna — good luck — smiles on those eating a holiday meal of cotechino sausage with lentils.

The hearty meal combines boiled cotechino sausage — made from pork cheeks, jowls, snout and skin, flavored with nutmeg, cloves, salt and pepper — with lentils, polenta and, of course, vino. In the United States, finding authentic cotechino is difficult — unless you live in Pittsburgh.

“We always made cotechino up until five years ago when demand fell off,” says Rina Edwards, daughter of Parma Sausage Company co-founder Luigi Spinabelli, who immigrated from Italy in 1934. “But people missed it, so we brought cotechino back this year by popular demand maybe because people need more good luck these days.”

On a recent Saturday morning inside Parma Sausage’s brightly lit, pristine and bustling shop at in the Strip District, Edwards’ 81-year-old father surveyed gleaming display cases loaded with his famous salami, prosciutto, sopressata and sausages. Doubtlessly, the brisk cotechino (pronounced koh-teh-KEE-noh )sales pleased him as customers happily rediscovered the tasty, handmade delicacy.

“My father had to taste several cotechinos recently just to make sure we still make it correctly,” Edwards notes with a laugh. “He gave it the thumbs up.”

To ensure freshness, Parma’s artisan sausage makers freeze the cotechino, which measures about 3 inches in diameter and 9 inches long. At home, after thawing the sausage overnight in the refrigerator, prick the cotechino casing with a fork before boiling it for around two hours. Slices of the mottled, pinkish-red-colored meat offer marvelous, delicate flavor and a soft, rich texture.

“In our family, we eat cotechino and start drinking wine around 11:59 P.M. on New Year’s Eve,” Edwards says. “But it also is an absolutely perfect dish on any chilly winter night.”

Edwards’ ancestral home of Parma lies squarely in northern Italy’s “cotechino belt” encompassing Modena, Ravenna, Bologna, Reggio Emilia, Cremona, Milano, Como and Verona. Legend says cotechino’s origins date back to 1511 when the “Warrior Pope” Julius II’s troops laid siege to the town of Mirandola near Modena. To survive, the famished townspeople used every morsel of pork including the snout to create the delicacy now known as cotechino.

Going forward, Edwards hopes to offer yet another Northern Italian holiday classic, stuffed pig trotters called Zampone. The boned shin and foot stuffed with cotechino again is served with lentils, polenta and vino. “If enough people request it, we’ll gladly respond,” says Edwards who also is exploring new local sourcing of “free-range” raised pigs to expand Parma’s premium-quality products.

In the meantime, try a tasty cotechino holiday meal matched with the following wines:

Whites

• 2007 Zenato, Lugana, San Benedetto Vineyard, Italy (Specialty 25069, $14.99): This wine uses 100 percent grapes grown on hillsides overlooking Northern Italy’s beautiful Lake Garda. Stainless-steel fermentation preserves the lovely lemon, grapefruit and peach aromas with floral hints. Bright, fruity flavors of citrus and pears lead to vibrant acidity, refreshing mineral notes and a well balanced, dry finish. Highly Recommended.

• 2006 Hiedler, Loess, Austria (Specialty 25992, $15.49): The wine’s green-gold tint offers aromas of ripe pineapple and citrus with light mint and floral notes. Ripe tropical fruit flavors with tart, vibrant acidity lead into a dry, elegant finish with good length. Recommended.

Reds

• 2007 Trivento, Malbec “Select,” Mendoza, Argentina (4369; on sale: $8.99): Argentine immigrants of Italian heritage have made Malbec the classic South American red food wine. This example’s dark purple color offers fruity blackberry and light chocolate aromas opening to ripe, oak-kissed berry and plum flavors. Fine tannins and bright acidity carry through the fruity, dry finish. Recommended.

• 2007 Blackstone Winery, Pinot Noir, California (9206; on sale: $8.99): Fruity cherry aromas with earthy notes open to soft, fruity cherry flavors with spicy notes. Bright acidity balances a fruity, soft finish. Recommended.

• 2004 Tenimenti Angelini, Sanleonino Chianti Classico, Italy (Specialty 24430, on sale: $10.99): Tuscans also excel at culinary pork delights, and the region’s traditional-style, lively reds made from Sangiovese grapes provide fine matches. This wine’s fruity cherry aromas with smoky, earthy notes open to cherry and almond flavors. Firm acidity and tannins balance the dry, yet fruity finish. Highly Recommended.

Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)