MAKE IT NOW: Carolynn’s recipe for Iron Range Porketta appears in the October/November 2012 issue of Cook’s Country.
This is part 1 of 2 of Carolynn’s trek to Hibbing. Click here to read part 2: The Hunt for Potica.
Minnesota in January?
I had been assigned a story on Iron Range Porketta for Cook’s Country, and Hibbing, Minn., was the place to try some. It was only after I started planning the trip and was booking my hotel that the woman on the other end of the phone said, “Be sure to dress warm. It is very cold here in January. VERY COLD.” I looked at the weather report. Turns out the average temperature in Hibbing in January is negative 4 to 18 degrees. Egads.
I had imagined that Iron Range Porketta was similar to porchetta, a traditional Italian dish. In Italy, it is a whole pig that is deboned, stuffed with herbs, and then slow-roasted until it falls apart. I’d had similar (but smaller-scale versions) that were a skin-on pork shoulder, or even a pork loin with the pork belly and skin attached (I got this at Porchetta in New York City—amazing). And while it is certainly similar, porketta definitely has its own identity.
As I began looking into what makes Iron Range Porketta distinct (besides the spelling), I reached out to several sources and learned a great deal about the people of this area. I began at the University of Wisconsin with a historian named Ruth Olson. She put me in touch with the author of The Minnesota Ethnic Food Book, Anne Kaplan. It had been about 20 years since she had been to the Iron Range, but she was able to fill me in a bit on the history of the area and the origins of many of the foods.
In the late 1800s to early 1900s, immigrants from all over the world moved to the locale in huge numbers, working the iron mines in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota. Sheer numbers of Germans, Swedish, Norwegians, Canadians, Italians, Danish, English, Irish, Finnish, Austrians, and Russians moved in and learned to adapt their recipes to the ingredients found in the area. Several recipes that have stuck in the area are porketta, potica, and pasties (a meat pie, sort of like beef stew in a pastry crust, shown below).
I scoured online chat boards and contacted as many locals as I could find, trying to get recommendations and contacts for my time in Hibbing. I’m certainly not the first person to be interested in the food of Minnesota. In fact, there is a great book by James Norton entitled Minnesota Lunch that explores food—specifically, lunch food—in Minnesota. A friend of a fellow test cook was able to put me in touch with James Norton. He graciously shared his research and confirmed what others had already told me: When it comes to porketta, the must-visit spots are Fraboni’s, Zimmy’s, and Cobb Cook. He put me in contact with the owner of Fraboni’s, who proved to be one of the best resources I found.
Somehow, despite the cold temperature, I convinced my husband to accompany me. He would act as a photographer and, as he used to live in North Dakota, a bit of an interpreter for this rather distrustful and private New Englander. (Me.) We flew into Duluth, grabbed a car, and headed to Hibbing. They were experiencing a bit of a heat wave: The temperature was in the 30s.
After checking into our adorable accommodations at The Mitchell Tappan House, we drove around town to get our bearings, and then parked the car and walked over to the public library. The librarians pointed us in the direction of the local cookbooks section. We tracked down some recipes and a little history on the area.
The librarians also strongly recommended we visit the Minnesota Discovery Center in nearby Chisholm. More on that later.
Hibbing is known for many things, including being the childhood home of musician Bob Dylan (né Robert Zimmerman). After leaving the library, we headed to a local Bob Dylan-themed restaurant, Zimmy’s, for some dinner. It was one of the places we had been told had a great porketta sandwich.
We sat at the bar and struck up a conversation with Patrick, who turned out to be the manager. When he heard we had never dined there before, he immediately said, “You’ll have to try the porketta sandwich. It is what we are known for.” Perfect. We ordered the sandwich and shortly thereafter were served a roll with a heaping portion of fine and thick shredded pork.
We explained to Patrick that we were in town to research porketta and asked him to tell us everything he knew. He said the sandwiches are typically served plain but that lots of people like mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, yellow mustard, and even ketchup! We tried all varieties and agreed that the sandwich didn’t need any condiments. It had a great meaty flavor accented with some pepper, garlic, and fennel.
Patrick then said that you could find uncooked porketta roasts in almost every grocery store in the area (his favorite was sold at a store named Fred’s in the small town of Nashwauk), but that if you traveled further than a few towns away, no one will have ever heard of porketta. We asked if Zimmy’s made their porketta in house and were told that they actually bought it from Fraboni’s. We had plans to visit there tomorrow. We called it a night.
The next morning we woke up with a busy day planned. (We asked Pam at the inn if we could possibly borrow a little freezer space.) We had some time before our first appointment, so we drove over to Fred’s to see if we could learn about their porketta.
The butcher at Fred’s didn’t seem like much of a talker. But, he did tell us that we could cook the porketta in a roasting bag or a pan with some water at 300-350 degrees until “it’s done.” When we asked what spices were rubbed in or on the pork, he simply handed us a packet of their “Porketta Seasoning Blend,” closed the door, and retreated into the kitchen. Guess this was all the info he was willing to share.
I’d been told by James Norton that the people of the Iron Range could seem a bit private and unwelcoming to strangers. I saw what he meant at Fred’s. But the butcher was the exception to the rule—everyone and everywhere else we visited were the most bend-over-backwards, warm, generous, helpful, and welcoming people I have possibly ever met.
We then headed to our first scheduled appointment of the day, Cobb Cook Grocer. Cobb Cook has been owned by the same family for 39 years. The current owners, Bruce, Dan, and Randy Peterlin, bought the shop from their uncle. Prior to that it was owned by a different family, but they have always made the same porketta.
Not only did they sell their own packaged spice blend, Cobb Cook was more than happy to show us around and chat porketta (with the exception of the actual quantities of ingredients). Traditionally they used pork shoulder, and that is what they prefer to eat, but when people began trying to eat healthier they started making porketta with the leaner pork loin meat and even turkey (turketta). They also serve their porketta as a deli meat. It is cooked less than the shredded variety, cooled completely, and then sliced extra thin on a deli slicer. No matter what, they informed us, the porketta should be served as a sandwich.
We left Cobb Cook and headed over to Fraboni’s to meet with owner Mark Thune. Mark has worked at Fraboni’s, believed to be the first operation to manufacture porketta wholesale, over 35 years. He started working for Leo Fraboni, the founder of the business. One thing that distinguishes Fraboni’s from other porketta is that they use fresh fennel. It wasn’t an easy thing to purchase in the area, so they grow the fennel themselves in two gardens, with one right outside of their distribution warehouse.
They harvest it over the summer and then freeze it for use all year. They believe so much in the importance of fresh fennel that one year, when their crop was ruined and they had no fresh fennel, Leo refused to make porketta. People in the area begged him to make it, even without the fresh fennel, but he refused. It was a labor of love for Leo: His mother brought her porketta recipe from Italy and originally made it for the miners to eat, cold, at lunch.
Mark was gracious enough to let us visit their operation and watch them make porketta; even today, every porketta they sell is made entirely by hand exactly the same way it was made when Mark began working there. They remove the fat from a pork butt, butterfly and score the inside, and season it with fennel, granulated garlic, salt and pepper.
It is obvious that Mark loves what he does and believes in their product. While we were visiting, Leo Fraboni’s widow arrived to pick up some porketta. It is clear that in many ways, Fraboni’s is still a family business.
About the Author: Carolynn Purpura MacKay
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All that and nor recipe? Sounds too good not to make!
Is this going to appear in Cook’s Country soon?
Hi davidW, we don’t mean to be such a tease. But yes, these are all trips in the name of research for developing recipes that will show up in Cook’s Country in the near future. Stay tuned for the ultimate porketta recipe from Carolynn, and thanks for reading!
OK, that does it! I’m putting a section of fennel in the garden this year. I’ll make a dry run with the dried stuff while waiting. Off to costco for a pork butt. Can’t wait for the article. Wonder if that market will ship??……….
Interesting article…does fraboni’s ship?
They do ship!
https://www.frabonis.com/dev/index.php?l=product_detail&p=17
I made a porketta with fresh fennel at Thanksgiving, it was out of this world. I combined a recipe from Mario Batali (for the fresh fennel part) and a recipe from some blogger on the Range for the crusty exterior…. Porketta from Zup’s, another little meat market on the Iron Range, has a dried herb crusty exterior. It’s delicious!
Fraboni’s does ship! http://www.frabonis.com – they also have amazing homemade sausages if you’re into that kind of thing. I’m from Hibbing – and like many that grew up or live on the range, each person has their favorite porketta blend and mine happens to be from the Super One Grocery store in Hibbing. Fraboni’s is a close second though. I’m guessing the potica they will find will be from Sunrise Bakery, and it is the best ever. You can have that shipped as well – http://www.sunrisegourmet.com or try some of their homemade pastas and sauces @ http://www.sunrisecreativegourmet.com
Not to wrench the research zups my favorite does the spice on the outside. I cannot wait to test this recipe as one of my childhood favorites!
http://zups.com/products-page/fresh-products/porchetta-roast-3-5-pound-average
I’m with Amy – the Super One porketta is #1 in my book. Looking forward to opening the cabin this spring and celebrating with a hearty porketta supper!
I’d give top pasty honors to Fraboni’s (be sure to try the pasty with rutabaga) – yum! Glad to know I can order online – thanks!
I grew up in Hibbing – love – absolutely love Porketta!! My sister-in-law who lives in Chisholm makes potica every year and sends it to us for Christmas! She learned it from her mom. It’s absolutely the best I’ve ever had. Let me know if I can put you in touch with her!
Thanks for the comments and for reading. I am sad I didn’t get to try the Super One or Zup’s porketta! Perhaps I can go back!
I was born and raised in Hibbing and after retirement
wrote two cookbooks about our diverse heritage and ethnic cooks. Forty-four different nationalities are represented on Minnesota’s Iron Range. The best porketta is from Fraboni’s, the best potica is made by the Slovenian women in Chisholm and the best pasties are made by my family and the Methodist Church in Hibbing. Thanks for the great article. Mona Meittunen Abel, “Recipe Diva/Former Go Go Dancer”
Another local market, and the one that makes the BEST porketta is F and D Meats in Virginia, MN. Hand made, fresh, and cooks up nicely. They also sell their seasoning blend. I like mine plain, or with just a touch of horseradish sauce. For those of you that are not from “the Iron Range”, come on up and eat all the porketta you want. We can always make more.
My husband grew up on the Range, in Virginia, MN. We have Porketta and Potica for every holiday except T-Day. Our favorite Porketta comes from F & D meats in Virginia. I slowly roast it in my old turkey roaster with vented lid on until it is very well done. We serve it sliced as the main meat for dinner and then make hard roll sandwiches with the leftovers. Yum!!!
I lived up on the Iron Range in Virginia, MN in 2009-2010. I loved it up there and also loved the Porketta. I would call it a tie between super one and Fraboni; you can’t go wrong with either one. For anyone looking for an intersting place to vacation, I would highly recommend Northern MN for the Iron Range, the boundary waters area around Ely, Duluth and the Northshore of Lake Superior- just amazing!
I was born and raised in Hibbing, and was a classmate of Leo Fraboni.
In the late 1930s my father made porchetta as you described. We would go to a local farm, and he would buy a small pig, usually about 25lbs. We would take this home and prepare it for roasting. This included ingediants from the pig, the heart liver etc. which were diced. Fresh fennel from the garden, fresh garlic, 1lb bags of salt and pepper.
holes were poked into the legs and ingredients were inserted, then the main cavity was filled with the rest.
Next a wooden dowl was placed in the cavity extending beyond the ends of the pig. The pig was then wrapped with new closeline rope.
Finally the outside of the pig was rubbed down with salt and pepper.
We would then take the prepared pig to the Sunrise Bakery and put it in the oven after they had completed making their bread for the day.
Roasting took about 4-5hr after which we would take it home and thin slice the meat for sandwiches.
We purchased small, torpedo shaped buns which were hard crusted. These were filled with some of the sliced meat, some of the fennel laced ingredients from the center cavity, plus some of the pork rind that was crisp, salty and very tasty.
The buns were wrapped with a knapkin and a toothpick was used to hold them in place.
When completed, the sadwitches were taken to Bar 13, the loacal beer tavern where they were sold for 25 cents each.
Fraboni’s store was about a block away. Don’t know for sure, but have been told that is where they got the idea of making their roasts for sale at the store.
Also assume that they spelled it parketta to amercanise it, because there is no K in the Italian alphabet cch before e is K.
I grew up in Hibbing, also..Brookyn…where Fraboni’s was located. Their fresh fennel is a must in the porketta. Jerry’s in Edina carries Fraboni’s porketta. Have not found hard rolls like Sunrise Bakery’s in Hibbing down in the cities. They were the best fit with porketta. Recently tried ciabatti rolls which were a VG substitution since Sunise’s hard rolls aren’t here. Just serve porketta on the bun w/o add ons…maybe a little butter on the bun.
How nice to see an article about an Iron Range staple. I grew up in Eveleth, about 30 miles from Hibbing. Porketta on hard rolls has always been a favorite of mine. My grandmother and mother made the best pasties and I have never tasted one as good since. My grandmother’s potica was also the best but I have had several from Sunrise Bakery’s and they are a close second. I live in Bemidji now but I am still able to get a Fraboni’s porketta here. I also made my own last summer and will definitely do it again.
I was born and raised in Hibbing also but had to become a refuge in the Twin Cities. For all the range refuges in Minneapolis and St. Paul area, Brine’s in Stillwater and Cosetta’s in St. Paul make acceptable Porkettas.
I grew up in Hibbing too and have migrated south to Minneapolis. I have a regular list of people I have to supply with Fraboni porketta when I go home to visit family! I also supply Sunrise potica! The Methodist church ladies make the best pasties, my mom is one of them! SO excited to read that Jerry’s in Edina sells Fraboni’s porketta. I work near there. I also found out Byerly’s carries Chisholm Bakery’s potica, so between trips to Hibbing I get my fix from Byerly’s.
I am from the north, soth, east, and west…because I am an army brat, but I have lived in Thief River Falls, MN, for eleven years. Much of that time, I have lived with the greatest man alive (next to my dad), Jim Amundson. Jim’s mother is from the Iron Range and she will swear her version of Porketta is better than this published version. She also swears that Buhl has the best bottled water in the world. Jim also said he made Potica (Poh-teets-ah) with his aunt once. I was reading Part 2 and commented that we could never make it at home because of the space required…he looked at the photos and agreed it would be crazy, due to his memories of creating it that one time.
Years ago I was visiting a dear friend of mine who resided in Eveleth. The food of the area that she cooked was outstanding! A few months after that, I was looking at a Midwest Living magazine in my dentists office back home in Indiana. They had an article in there called Iron Country Kitchens that had recipes from various ethnic locals in the mining area. (dated August 1992) The porketta recipe was in there! Yay! I agree with the above comment about the hard rolls. We just do not have them readily available in my area. I can’t wait for your version of this.
How about recipes for Struklji?? I can make a pretty mean batch of cheese struklji, and it would be great to see some more recipes for that. The Slovenians would surely be in favor of that! If you can pull out the dough for Potica, there’s a good chance you can make Struklji. I am not a Range Slovenian, but rather come from central Minnesota, where there is a nice little population of Slovenes.
Yea don’t cha know! I grew up in Babbitt and my parents graduated from Hibbing High School. I introduced porketta to some of our southern neighbors in Iowa. They have all kinds of recipes for pork, but none that resemble porketta.
Another great place to visit in Hibbing is the Sunrise Bakery for yummy hard rolls to put your porketta on. There is a grocer here in Des Moines selling Sunrise Bakery frozen goods, (Dahls) is the grocery store.
When I was growing up, we had the kitchen assembly line for pasties. Sister and brother and I all pitched in to put food up for the winter. This blog feels like a family reunion for all of us iron rangers to chit-chat. Thank you, take care all! G