GREAT EATS HAWAII: PANOZZO'S

PANOZZO'S

CHICAGO, IL

My friend saw Panozzo's on the Food Network and said they had a special sandwich that we needed to try. We found the place and headed inside where we were greeted by a very friendly staff. As we approached the counter one of the guys behind the counter actually walked out and greeted us. He asked if we had any questions or could help. This is great service. I asked about the Porchetta and he showed me the special menu listing three different preparations. I picked the Porchino version that had chunked up Porchetta cooked in its own fat and served with pickled fennel on a crusty Bolino. This thing was fat paradise. So good with the fat and fennel. What a great combination. We shared the sandwich and ordered the standard Italian sub to split too. The sub was pretty basic. It is the Porchetta you want to eat here.

Porchetta [porˈketːa] (or sometimes "porketta") is a savory, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition. The body of the pig is gutted, deboned, arranged carefully with layers of stuffing, meat, fat, and skin, then rolled, spitted, and roasted, traditionally over wood. Porchetta is usually heavily salted in addition to being stuffed with garlic, rosemary, fennel, or other herbs, often wild. Porchetta has been selected by the Italian Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali as a "prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale" ("traditional agricultural-alimentary product", one of a list of traditional Italian foods held to have cultural relevance).^[1]