Arista alla Fiorentina

Florence's great roast: a loin of pork deeply scored and stuffed with a paste of rosemary, garlic, and fennel, then roasted slowly until the meat is juicy and the skin crackles, the dish said to have been named the best, 'aristos', by Greek bishops at a Renaissance church council

Origin: Florence, Tuscany, Italy

From the journey of Rosemary.

Arista is one of the oldest and most beloved roasts of Tuscany, a loin of pork perfumed to its core with rosemary and garlic. By a well-loved legend, the dish took its name at the Council of Florence in 1439, when the visiting Greek Orthodox bishops tasted it and exclaimed 'aristos!', 'the best!', and the word stuck; the truth is that the dish is older still, but the story captures its standing. The defining flavour is rosemary, pounded with garlic, fennel, salt, and pepper into a paste that is pushed deep into slits cut all through the meat, so that every slice carries the herb. Served hot with roast potatoes or cold the next day in thin slices, arista is the Sunday and festival pork of the Florentine table.

Ingredients

Pork

  • 1.6 kg boneless pork loin, skin on and scored (or rind removed for crackling separately)

Rosemary paste

  • 4 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds
  • 2 tsp flaky sea salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Roasting

  • 200 ml dry white wine

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan / 400°F). Pound the rosemary, garlic, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper in a mortar (or blitz) with the olive oil to a coarse green paste.
  2. With a thin, sharp knife, make deep slits all over the meat, including into the cut ends. Push the rosemary paste deep into every slit, then rub any remaining paste over the surface (under the rind if removed; over the meat if left on).
  3. If roasting with the skin on for crackling, rub the scored rind with oil and salt. Tie the loin at intervals with kitchen string to hold its shape.
  4. Sit the pork in a roasting tin and roast at 200°C for 25 minutes to start the crackling and colour, then lower to 170°C (150°C fan / 340°F), pour the wine into the base of the tin, and roast for a further 60 to 70 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 63°C.
  5. Rest the pork, loosely covered, for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, set the tin over a low heat and simmer the winey juices into a light sauce, scraping up the caramelised bits.
  6. Carve and serve with the pan juices, rosemary roast potatoes, and white beans or greens. Arista is equally good cold the next day, thinly sliced.

Notes

Fennel seed is traditional in many Tuscan versions and beautiful with the rosemary, but the dish is excellent with rosemary and garlic alone. A bone-in loin gives more flavour and is the old-fashioned cut; a boneless loin is easier to carve. Serve with patate arrosto al rosmarino and fagioli all'uccelletto for a complete Tuscan table.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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