I Cooked Mafia: The Old Country’s Pork Spezzatino — The Game’s Recipe Tastes Surprisingly Real
I cooked the pork spezzatino recipe that appears in Mafia: The Old Country to see how the in-game note translates to a real meal. The recipe sits on a kitchen counter in the game, and it lists 11 ingredients, nine steps, and a five-hour cooking time, but it leaves out measurements and exact timings. So, I followed the note’s broad directions and used some real-world adjustments to finish the dish.
- What the in-game recipe shows and how it’s written.
- How the recipe was reproduced in real life, including cooking choices.
- Historical context linking spezzatino and early 1900s Sicily.
What the game includes
In an early sequence of Mafia: The Old Country, a playable character picks up a butchered pig carcass and brings it to a kitchen where cooks are preparing food for the Torrisi family. On a counter, a handwritten recipe by a character named Valentina lists the pork spezzatino ingredients and steps. The paper even shows a wine glass stain. The in-game recipe specifies 11 ingredients and nine steps, and it instructs that the dish cooks for about five hours. However, the note does not include exact measurements for items like butter or broth, nor does it give precise cooking times for browning or simmering.
Recreating the recipe
To test the recipe, the cook used three pounds of pork shoulder and followed the note’s broad steps: brown the meat, cook the vegetables, add liquid, and let it simmer for hours. The finished dish included peas and fresh rosemary, and the cook used a slow cooker to maintain a low temperature for the five-hour period. The recipe calls for a “generous pouring” of red wine, which the cook used to add depth to the broth. The article’s author also noted that buying commercial “bone broth” increased the cost, rather than making stock from bones.
Minor adjustments made during the test
For authenticity, the author mostly followed the game note, but also made a few choices based on common cooking practice. For example, the meat was browned before adding vegetables, and a slow cooker was used to avoid long stove time. The author considered dredging the pork in flour — a tip from their father — which would thicken the sauce, but chose to stick close to the game’s text. After five hours in the slow cooker, the pork shoulder reached a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Food and historical context
Spezzatino is a traditional Italian stew that fits the game’s early 1900s setting. Historically, it comes from la cucina povera, or “poor kitchen,” meaning the dish was meant to use inexpensive cuts and whatever vegetables were available. The game’s use of spezzatino is consistent with that concept, and it subtly reflects the social and economic conditions in Sicily around 1904. For additional historical culinary context, the author references Pellegrino Artusi’s cookbook Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, which often omits strict measurements in ways similar to Valentina’s note.
Why the dish fits the game
In the game, the Torrisi family’s recipe choice signals class and setting. On one hand, spezzatino can be a simple, inexpensive meal. On the other hand, the recipe here includes a wine pour and is prepared for a powerful family, showing how the same dish can adapt across social classes. The game’s depiction of poverty, high taxes, and social strain in early 20th-century Sicily aligns with documented historical problems after Italian unification, which influenced rural life and migration patterns.
Final result
After following the game’s directions with a few practical choices, the cooked spezzatino was described as hearty and filling. The five-hour cook time plus the wine produced a rich broth, and the braised pork shoulder became tender. Overall, the real-world test reproduced a plausible spezzatino that matches the dish’s role and description in Mafia: The Old Country.
