Cassoeula is Milan's winter braise: pork ribs, sausage and odd cuts (cotenna, foot) slow-cooked with savoy cabbage, onion, carrot and celery for three hours. The defining Lombard Sunday lunch of the cold months.

The cassoeula is first recorded in 16th-century Lombard farming manuscripts as a peasant November-to-February dish using the parts of the pig left after the main butchery: ribs, sausages, rind (cotenna), foot, ear. The slow braise with savoy cabbage (verza) is the canonical Milanese form, distinct from the Spanish ancestor cassola the dish takes its name from. The dish is served only between November (after the first frost, which sweetens the cabbage) and February. Trattoria Masuelli San Marco, Antica Trattoria della Pesa and Trattoria del Nuovo Macello serve canonical versions; Ratana modernises it with house-made luganega.

5 editor picks for Cassoeula in Milan, ranked by editorial score. All Milan signature dishes · Cassoeula across every city.