Porcetti are a tiny pasta, not as small as risotto, shaped like pigs. It is a seasonal delicacy served up at the Festival of Santo Loquacio for whom the village receives its name. The highlight of the festivities is the annual "Running of the Swine" similar to the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, but preceding it by many centuries. The "Running of the Swine" has ancient and obscure pre-Christian origins in Santo Loquacio, but has been incorporated into the Catholic celebration of the Saint. Every year the swineherds of the countryside allow the swine to run freely in the main street of the village leading up their slaughter and the annual sausage feed.
Porcetti is a main dish of the sausage feed and the cooks and chefs of Santo Loquacio have a variety of ways of serving up this delicacy, my favorite being in a hazelnut pesto. Sadly, this dish is never served any other time but the Festival of Santo Loquacio and is not heard of outside the tiny little village.
Should you stumble upon it, it is a rare treasure.
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