Suckling pig cooked slowly until the skin crackles and the meat pulls away clean, scented with myrtle. The Sardinian feast dish, ordered a day ahead in most Alghero trattorias.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 2 cities.
Porceddu is the inland counterweight to the Alghero fish tradition, a shepherd's celebration dish that came down to the coast with families from the mountain villages. The pig is young, four to six weeks, and traditionally cooked on a spit over juniper or myrtle embers, then rested under myrtle branches so the leaves perfume the meat as it cools. Restaurants now mostly use ovens, but the myrtle stays. In Alghero it is the plate to order when you want the other half of Sardinia, and kitchens such as Trattoria Lo Romanì cook it from a family repertoire brought from Tonara in the interior.
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Tip from the editors. Any moisture on the skin costs you the crackling. Leave the pig uncovered in the fridge overnight before you start.
Under stone vaults on Via Lazzaretto in Alghero, Lo Romanì is run by Gigi and Vittoria and closes on Mondays, with porceddu on the meat side.
OrderMacarrones de busa from Tonara, followed by whatever Gigi bought that morning.
Andreini's Al Refettorio in Alghero opens for lunch and dinner off Piazza Civica, with suckling pig, sheep ribs and a heated portico for winter.
OrderTagliolini with bottarga and pecorino, then the suckling pig with potato millefoglie.
Su Cumbidu on Via Napoli feeds the Marina fixed-price Sardinian menus under brick arches, culurgiones and seadas at prices Cagliari students accept.
OrderCulurgiones, potato and mint, in tomato sauce.
TipThe set menus are the value play at around €20 to 30; go early, because groups book out the arched back room.
More cities are in research. Want porceddu covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.