All over southern Italy country people eat bowls of nutty-tasting whole-wheat kernels with creamy ricotta, sweet honey and dried fruit to celebrate the feast of Santa Lucia on December 13 and the planting of the new wheat.
Over the years, I've made mental notes of interesting recipes I've read for pork shoulder rubbed with various combinations of garlic and chiles and slowly roasted in a covered casserole until the meat was falling off the bone. The spoon-soft meat was then rolled in tortillas, Mexican style, with cilantro and avocado. An organic pork shoulder at my local market inspired me to finally experiment with the idea. I rubbed the pork in an improvised seasoning mix with the flavors of mole sauce—ancho chile, cinnamon, and clove—and roasted it slowly in a sealed pot. The pork was delectable: succulent, tender, utterly satisfying, a practically effortless way to serve a crowd. If affirmed my love of slow roasting as a great technique for cooking meat.
Crumbly but wonderfully moist, this cake has enough surprises of fruity chocolate, nuts and spice to set it far apart from ordinary Christmas fruit cakes. Taste it at its mellow best by baking the Pampepato a week or more before serving. One loaf could become a holiday house gift, while the other is kept for celebrating Christmas with the family.