La Sagra del Cinghiale

I love a good sagra. It's a celebration of all I hold dear in Italy: food and wine. It is exactly the type of thing that made me leave my life with a backpack to get closer.
Something specific and seasonal like la castagna (chestnut), carciofo (artichoke), fagioli (beans), etc., will be granted the spotlight for a weekend, prepared in
a typical local style, and washed down with a little vino paesano. These are community events usually held outdoors and often conducted for charity. (Well, if I ever needed an excuse to fatten up a bit on some Italian country cooking, I think charity would be a great one, don't you?) September, October, and November are full of these events and if you're ever here during a sagra it's a fantastic way to see (and taste) the country.

A couple of weeks ago, I got to attend la Sagra del Cinghiale (wild boar). It took place in a tiny town called Dugenta, in the province of another small town called Benevento, about 40 minutes from Naples.

The menu is simple. There are 3 different pastas all made with ground boar, slowly cooked in tomato sauce. You can then order the misto al cinghiale with sausage, "steak," cheese, and a veggie. There's a panino option if there is someone crazy enough to skip the fresh pasta. The local wine is sold in a carafe or a 1.5 liter bottle. Did you notice how much more expensive Coca-cola is per mL than wine? This is a country with its priorities in the right place.

Could somebody check this dog's pulse?

Let's all say it together, "MISTO AL CINGHIALE!"

Look, paw, they even got 'dem some dayncin'!

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I would like to say that I had fun "sampling," but I'll go ahead and admit that I went whole-hog at the feedin' trough. And the post-dinner dance review was just what I needed to get myself on road for home...laughing all the way.