From Bologna to Brisbane: Zio Porco brings regional Italian eats to Newstead
Ever tried tigelle? Unless you have spent time in Emilia-Romagna, there’s a good chance you’ve never even heard of them. That’s okay, though – the crew behind Ripiena is looking to make the regional specialty a household name with its new casual eatery, Zio Porco. Serving baskets of warm tigelle and piadina packed with cured meats and cheeses, this newcomer is vying to become your next aperitivo destination.
Nicolo Campagnari considers himself a bit of a culinary anthropologist. The Italian-born operator – who runs Fortitude Valley pasta laboratory, Ripiena, alongside his partner Anita – is obsessed with food as part of culture and with how food brings people together.
“I’m one of those guys that loves to spend an hour in a supermarket,” says Nico, only half-joking.
Which is why, when we ask Nico to articulate why he’s picked tigelle – a highly regional street food delicacy from Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy – to be a signature item at his new casual eatery, Zio Porco, he first has to widen the aperture and incorporate a bit of historical and social context.
Nico explains that tigelle – or crescentine, as they are also known – originated in the Apennine Mountains. For households in these mountainous areas that lacked ovens, these unleavened, palm-sized rounds were a practical alternative to oven-baked bread.
Traditionally cooked over an open fire, balls of dough were sandwiched between flat stones and chestnut leaves before being cooked. Once crisp on the outside, they were often sliced and stuffed with cured meats and cheeses.
These days, Nico continues, tigelle are regarded as a social dish. In Bologna and Modena, baskets of warm tigelle can often be spied at restaurants and bars at aperitivo time. Served alongside plates of mortadella, prosciutto and crescenza, tigelle are more of a shared snack – something to munch on before the evening’s main repast.
“I really like the culture of Emilia-Romagna – maybe because I did my university studies there in Bologna,” says Nico. “I love that environment, where you go out with your friends, or even people that you just met, and you gather around food and wine and talk about anything. That’s how connections are made.
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“Tigelle is like a shared thing. You simply cut it and you put whatever you want inside and that’s it – it’s perfect for socialising. So that was my idea from the beginning. ”
So, in a sense, Zio Porco is Nico’s love letter to those leisurely Bologna evenings – the friendships forged, the memories made and the meals shared. It’s also a way for Nico to share a slice of Italy’s unheralded food culture, bringing a dish that’s uncommon, even in his homeland, to his new home.
“Even Italians from Sicily or Puglia or from Abruzzo have never heard of tigelle,” says Nico. “Every region has its own things, you know? In Abruzzo they have arrosticini, while we have the tigelle.”
Tucked away at the base of Mirvac’s LIV Anura building on Skyring Terrace (just behind Freddie’s), Zio Porco looks a little bit like a deli at first glance, with a cabinet housing hunks of cured meats, cheeses and vegetables.
Boasting a clean, tile-clad design scheme, the streamlined eatery is built for function. There are dine-in tables in the laneway, as well as a trio of standing-only high-tops for a brief pit-stop bite. Nico says that ease of access is core to Zio Porco’s concept. Sure, you and your pals can snag a table and kick back, but those short on time are also amply catered for.
“I wanted to do something easier, in the sense that you don’t have to book,” says Nico. “Maybe people finish work and then have a movie at 6:00 pm. They don’t have enough time to go to a restaurant, but they want to eat something.
“This is not a restaurant. It’s not a coffee shop. It’s something different.”
Zio Porco’s menu is divided into two sections. One is dedicated to tigelle, which are cooked fresh to order in a custom press. A basket of tigelle is accompanied by your choice of cold cuts and cheeses (the latter including stracciatella, fontina, asiago and 36-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano).
Meats are supplied by Saison Small Goods, with an ever-changing selection currently including the likes of mortadella, capocollo, porchetta, prosciutto crudo di Parma and kangaroo salami. There’s also carne salada, a lean, salt-cured beef made by Saison’s Damon Porter for Zio Porco.
“Many people, because of dietary or religious requirements, don’t eat pork – and let’s be honest, 90 percent of Italian cold cuts are pork,” says Nico.
“Usually what everybody does is a bresaola, but I asked Damon if he could create some carne salada for us. We worked on some recipes and he made this one. It’s awesome.”
The other half of Zio Porco’s menu is devoted to another Emilia-Romagna specialty – piadina, an unleavened flatbread cooked on a flat-top grill. This pliable bread is folded to encase an assortment of ingredients, making it a cross between a wrap and a sandwich.
On the piadina menu, you’ll find classic options like the Zio Porco (prosciutto crudo di Parma, crescenza and rocket), the In Sano Porco (prosciutto cotto, mozzarella and grilled zucchini) and a carne salada-filled option with Parmigiano Reggiano, rocket and semi-dried tomatoes.
Nico has also added a few unconventional options, including the Porco Inferno (porchetta, nduja and stracciatella) and the Porco di Mare (wild-caught smoked salmon from Adelaide’s Harris Smokehouse, cream cheese, avocado and lettuce).
“I’ve seen a lot of pizza by the slice recently – I want [piadina] to be an alternative,” says Nico. “You want to eat something that’s quick, at a good price, that is not a restaurant but not a burger or a pizza? I think this could be a good alternative.”
The Zio Porco drinks list is streamlined, with a Revel lager and pale ale available alongside house red or white wine (by the glass or in a half-litre carafe), lambrusco by the bottle, Aperol Spritzes and negronis.
Though still something of an unfamiliar culinary curiosity, tigelle and piadina hold the potential to become popular dishes for Brisbane foodies. For Nico, a lot of satisfaction comes from introducing locals to a fixture of his time living in Bologna. Naturally, however, Nico’s doing so with his own personal flair.
“I take things from the city I was living, the city I was studying, the city I was born in – I’m taking all of these things, the stuff that I really like, and I’m putting them together,” says Nico.
Zio Porco is now open to the public – head to The Directory for operating hours and other details.
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