The great mountain-game dish of Valle d'Aosta, where red wine stands in for the olive oil the mountains never had. Chamois is cut up and steeped a full day in robust red wine with onion, carrot, celery, garlic, sage, thyme, marjoram, bay, juniper and clove, then lightly floured, browned in butter and braised slowly in its marinade until it falls tender. Finished with the cooking liquor blended smooth, it is served, always, over soft polenta.
'Civet' is the alpine method of marinating and stewing game, hare, roe deer and above all the chamois ('camoscio'), whose butchery is almost a Valdostan monopoly in Italy. In the mountains, where olive oil was absent, wine became a pillar of the kitchen, both marinade and braising liquor. Old recipes steep the meat up to three days; the pieces are then floured, browned in butter and returned to the pot to braise with the marinade and vegetables until tender, the sauce built from the strained, blended cooking liquor. It is served over soft polenta, ideally beside a local Donnas red.
The chamois comes apart in dark, close-grained shreds, deeper and more mineral than beef, with none of the harshness the marinade has drawn off. The sauce is thick and glossy, resinous with juniper and wine, and the soft polenta beneath soaks it up, sweet against the gamey depth.
The long wine marinade does double work: its acidity swells and loosens the muscle to tenderise, while alcohol and aromatics dissolve and mask the fat-borne compounds that give wild meat its gaminess. Chamois is lean and full of connective tissue, so hours of slow, moist braising below the boil are needed to melt collagen into gelatin, which gives the sauce its body. A light flouring browns in the butter for Maillard colour and flavour, and thickens the finished liquor.
Variations
Hare, roe deer and venison take the same civet treatment; where chamois is scarce, cooks use farmed venison or beef. Some old versions bind the sauce with the animal's blood in the French manner rather than blending the vegetables; others add a square of dark chocolate or a handful of dried mushrooms. Polenta is the fixed partner, though mashed potato appears too.
On the Palate
Where Civet di Camoscio sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 40 min
- 140 min
Cut the chamois into large stewing pieces, trimming sinew and silverskin.
- 21440 min
Marinate the meat a full day in robust red wine with sliced onion, carrot, celery, garlic, sage, thyme, marjoram, bay, juniper berries and a clove.
- 315 min
Lift the meat out and pat it dry; strain and reserve the marinade and the vegetables separately.
- 420 min
Dust the pieces lightly with flour, then brown them well in butter in a heavy pot.
Watch outPat the meat bone-dry before flouring and browning — wet meat steams grey instead of browning, and you lose the Maillard base.
- 515 min
Add the drained vegetables and let them soften, then pour back the strained marinade to deglaze.
- 6150 min
Cover and braise gently below a simmer for two to three hours, until the meat is fork-tender.
Watch outHold the braise just below a simmer for 2-3 hours — a real boil tightens this lean, sinewy meat instead of melting it tender.
- 715 min
Lift out the meat; blend the cooking liquor and vegetables to a smooth sauce and reduce until it coats a spoon.
- 810 min
Return the meat to warm through, and serve over soft polenta with a Donnas red.
