The priest's hat is a cut of meat, specifically of the bovine's shoulder. It is cut in the shape of a tricorn, similar to an ancient ecclesiastical headdress from which it took its name. In the past it was the pork leg, left over from the processing of culatello and fiocchetto.

Today it is made with a coarse-grained dough, similar to that of the zampone, and stuffed into a rind sewn so that it forms a triangle. Before cooking it, the priest's hat should be left to soak for at least 12 hours in cold water, then pricked with a large needle and wrapped in a cloth.