One of the best ways to get to know a city is to eat one of the favourite local dishes or participate in one of the favourite local activities (or even better, both at once). In Sudbury, that means…porketta bingo! Read on for your crash course in porketta bingo: what it is, how it connects to Sudbury’s history and culture, and of course, where to play and dine in this lively small Northern Ontario city that is a four or five-hour drive from Toronto and Ottawa, or about eight hours from Montreal.
“Porketta” is Sudbury’s name for “porchetta,” a classic Italian dish of a boneless pork roast that’s seasoned with herbs and spices and roasted with the skin on. The result: a juicy, moist and savoury piece of pork that’s decadently fatty. When you’re serving up porketta Sudbury-style, it’s made with plenty of dill, pepper and garlic, while in Italy, fennel is used instead of dill. Obviously, swapping out the sweetness of fennel for the tangy freshness of dill is going to result in a different taste experience. Locally grown garlic and dill is preferred too, for maximum flavour and freshness, and porketta chefs often have strong opinions on which local butcher or grocer is the best source of pork.
There are also important similarities. In Italy, porchetta is definitely laidback, casual fare, and it is in Sudbury too. And because it’s often made with a really big piece of pork, it’s perfect for sharing with friends and family (or fellow bingo-goers). Whether you spell it with a “k” or a “ch”, you say “por-keh-ta.”
Bingo is a popular charitable fundraiser and pastime in many a small northern Ontario community, and Sudbury is no exception (just think of the opening lyrics to the legendary Stompin’ Tom Connor’s “Sudbury Saturday Night.”) With porketta bingo, Sudbury has put their own spin on the game. There are no dabbers, no paper bingo cards and no bingo cage machine full of numbered balls. Instead, porketta bingo-goers get a laminated set of three regular playing cards, like the king of hearts, the eight of diamonds and the two of spades, for example. Players use their own markers (coins, bottle caps or their lucky charms) to match their set of cards with the ones that the dealer randomly calls out after shuffling the deck. When you win, you don’t yell “Bingo!” but “Porketta!”
It’s a super-popular, fun and rowdy pub game, where the winner gets their very own tasty serving of porketta to enjoy, often served on a bun. Sometimes accompanied by other prizes like a packaged ham, cheese or even a full-size porketta to take home.
There are a number of different venues in Sudbury where you can join local residents in playing porketta bingo and help raise some funds for local charities and organizations. Some to consider:
Head to the Trevi Bar and Grill for porketta & wings bingo on Saturday afternoons. This locally owned, friendly restaurant and bar in central Sudbury also regularly has live music, euchre games, karaoke and daily specials for a variety of pub grub.
The Beef ‘n’ Bird has been a Sudbury staple for 50 years, when Jerry and Dolly Toppazzini purchased an existing venue in the city’s west end. They renamed it in honour of Jerry’s decade of NHL seasons in Boston, where he and his fellow Bruins would eat at the Beef, Bird & Brew. Now owned by the Toppazzini kids, the Beef ‘n’ Bird is a sports bar (with lots of Bruins décor of course) that hosts porketta bingo on Saturday afternoons, as well as other events like live music. And if you miss the bingo, you can also enjoy a porketta sandwich from their regular menu. They also have outdoor seating.
This Italian social club, also known as Societa Caruso is a host to occasional porketta bingo nights. The largest Italian club in Northern Ontario, the Caruso is a community hub in the southwestern part of the city, with a long and rich history dating back to the 1940s, and it even recently announced a $2-million Italian language school. Watch its social media pages (Facebook, Instagram) for details about porketta bingo events.
A family-style restaurant that’s close to Nepahwin Lake, Buzzy Brown’s Brasserie also hosts porketta bingo on Saturday afternoons. Outside of bingo, you can watch the game on 13 large TVs or kick back and relax on the patio. This locally owned and operated spot is known for its big menu featuring freshly made meals of everything from steamed mussels to deep-fried pickles.
Italian-Canadians are a big part of Sudbury’s history and community, with many families arriving to work in the mines after World War II. They settled in several neighbourhoods such as Gatchell and Copper Cliff, southwest of Sudbury’s downtown area, bringing their close-knit culture with them and adapting it to their new country. According to the Sudbury Star, on weekends the Italian miners would meet up to have a bit of a party, enjoy some porketta and play a lottery-style game from southern Italy called tombola. Over the years, the winners began to shout “porketta” instead of “tombola” when they won, and Sudbury’s porketta bingo was born.
If you want to cook your very own porketta, visit one of Sudbury’s Italian groceries or butchers, such as Tarini Bros., B&D Quality Meats, or Regency Bakery (which also has cooked porketta and porketta sandwiches available for purchase). You can also get your porketta fix at some of the city’s restaurants, like porketta poutine (!!) at the Vespa Street Kitchen, porketta on a panini or paniotti at Cara’s Convenience, or classic porketta with plenty of crispy crackle at the farm-to-table Verdicchio Ristorante Enoteca.
No trip to Sudbury is complete without a trip to porketta bingo. Have fun!
