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braciola

a chop, a thin steak, or involtini

Also spelled bracciola, bracioline or brucioli In most of Italy it will mean a pork or veal chop, usually grilled. But it could also be, especially in the south, thin steaks that are quickly fried—like scallopine.

Neapolitans (and Italian-Americans and Italian-Australians) use the word braciole to refer to a dish of stuffed and rolled meat. Braciole alla Napoletane, similar to Sicilian involtini only larger, and with much the same stuffing, is a classic. Smaller ones are called bracioline or braciole alla Messinese. In Sicily they also make it with swordfish: braccioli di pesce spada. The Sicilian word is bruciuluni.

In Bari province, they traditional make them with horse meat, stuffed with little more than cheese and parsley, and cooked in tomato sauce for three or four hours. Even there, though, horse is gradually being replaced by beef.

Campania

Meats & Poultry

Puglia

Sicily

Text © Dana Facaros & Michael Pauls

Image by Joe Foodie