ROMAN SWEET AND SOUR BOAR MEAT 

A piece of boar meat	Small pieces of lard a handful
Wine, 2 glasses	Fat and lean ham as much as needed
Vinegar, less than half glass	Garlic a mashed clove
Onion, 1	Sugar, two or three tablespoons
Yellow, carrot 1	Grated chocolate, two tablespoons
Celery, 2 stems	Potato starch, one teaspoon
Parsley, a tuft	Butter, a knob
Cloves 2 or 3	Flour, one teaspoon
Bay, one leaf	Raisins, a handful
Thyme, a couple of sprigs	Dry sour black cherry, a handful
Grains of pepper, a pinch	Prunes, some
Oil as much as needed	Citron, some pieces of rind
Pepper and salt as much as needed	Candide orange, some diced pieces

Preparation

Marinate the piece of boar meat before cooking it, keeping it in a aromatic bain for, at least, a couple of days. In the opposite case, the boar meat will result less tasty.

Wash the piece of boar meat very well, then dry it (it is better to remove the thick skin).
Heat 2 glasses of wine and less than a glass of vinegar in a saucepan. Cut the onion, the yellow carrot, 2 stems of celery, and a tuft of parsley into small pieces and put all in the saucepan. Add 2 or 3 cloves, a bay leaf, a couple of thyme sprigs, and a pinch of pepper in grains letting the whole mixture to come to the boil. Then let it cool down (do not use copper pans).

Arrange the piece of boar meat in a bowl, pour the cold marinade into it, and leave it in this aromatic bain for, at least, a couple of days. It suited to turn the piece of boar meat upside down 2 or 3 times a day if the marinade does not completely cover it. Take the piece of boar meat out of the bowl, dry it, and tie it up to give the right shape. Pour some oil in the saucepan and, when it becomes enough hot, add the piece of boar meat browning it in high flame. 
Season it with pepper and salt adding 2 onions medium-sized, a yellow carrot, and a celery stem cut into small pieces. Add 2 cloves more, a couple of thyme sprigs, and half bay leaf (they are the same ingredients for the marinade, more or less).
Add lard and fat and lean ham cut in strips or small cubes. Turn the piece of boar meat occasionally while it is still browning in high flame. Once the piece of boar meat and the seasoning turn brown, pour a glass of dry wine in the saucepan.
Remove with a tablespoon the cooking bottom and cover the meat with water once the wine will be evaporated. Bring it to the boil, cover the saucepan and continue cooking the piece of boar meat in low flame until it is cooked.

Now and then try to push a cooking needle into the piece of boar meat. If it easily threads, the meat is cooked at the right point. Now take the piece of boar meat out of the saucepan, untie it, put it in a smaller bowl with a few tablespoons of sauce, cover it and keep it warm.
Take the grease away from the surface of the boar meat sauce left in the bigger saucepan with a tablespoon. This sauce will have to be enough thick to be used as sauce for the meat.
Now put 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar, a mashed clove of garlic, and ¼ of a bay leaf in a concave container. Let the sugar to melt down, stirring frequently without adding water and, when it turns blonde, pour some vinegar in the saucepan. 
The sugar will thicken in the bottom of the saucepan. Detach it carefully with a ladle, keeping the saucepan in the flame until it will be completely liquefied. Then add 2 tablespoons of grated chocolate. Boil it for a while and, once the chocolate melted down, put it in the boar meat sauce.

Stir and heat. If the sauce results too liquid, thicken it with the potato starch melted in some water or with a knob of butter mixed with a tablespoon of flour. Once you obtain the right density of the sauce, sieve it with a strainer putting it in another saucepan. Add a handful of raisins, a handful of dry sour black cherry, some prunes, some pieces of citron rind, and some diced candide orange to the sauce. The dry sour black cherries and the prunes need to be left soaking in warm water for a few hours. Now slice thinly the piece of boar meat, arrange them in the dish, and pour the boiling sauce over it. Then serve.

The Dish

This is a quite complex preparation. It is an exquisite and very interesting dish for a professional chef too. The accuracy of the realization goes at the same pace with the necessary time (a few days) that this recipe needs to be preparated.
The marinade itself needs a few days to give best results. The cooking should proceed in a careful way. It is rich of addictions which should merge; the spices and the dry and candide fruit: the dish is seasoned with constrasting flavours.
Despite the aromatic richness of this dish, the strong taste of the boar meat could be still savoured. It is a very interesting dish which worths the effort required to prepare.

The Wine

The boar meat taste and the seasoning which accompanies it make of the dish an important course to which should be linked to high-class wines. Certainly red wines, considering the presence of tannic substances typical of them, are essential to blend with the fat taste. The wine should be mellow, harmonious, a bit acid, properly tannic, with an intense, persistent, and bitterish taste.


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