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Pork on the wild side
This week saw the hardest
part of my first stab of pig keeping when it came time to take them to the
slaughterhouse. I certainly found
it difficult but I was comforted to know that they had lived well, eaten liked
kings and hopefully, are going to have an unbelievably great flavour!
I also helped some friends with their traditional Spanish “Matanzas”. It isn’t recommended for the squeamish but
takes place in a festive atmosphere, with everyone joining in to help and nothing goes to
waste as just about every part of the animal is put to good use in the making
of sausage-like "Embutidos" (charcuterie). Among these are Chorizo,
Salchichon, Morcilla, Butifarra, Sobrasada and
off course, cured hams, Spain's most outstanding meat product.
off course, cured hams, Spain's most outstanding meat product.
Pork is, perhaps, the supreme winter meat and has some wonderful cuts
for stuffing and roasting. The tender fillets and loins, prized for their
white, succulent meat, are perfect for pan frying or grilling and it also has
some excellent, flavoursome odds and ends in the shape of totters, knuckles and
cheeks for braising and rich stews. Ribs are a relatively cheap cut of pork as
they contain a smaller ratio of meat to bone. The discarded bones from chops
are sold as spare ribs - pieces that have some meat, but not enough to be
classed as proper chops. These can be marinated and grilled or barbecued. Ribs
are also cut and sold in the same way as chops, with quite a large amount of
meat still on the bone. The rib joint of pork contains more meat and can be treated
like the rack of lamb as a piece that's ideal for open roasting or glazing and
can be carved easily between the ribs so long as the chine bone is removed.
Despite its
prohibition by two major religions, pork is the worlds most consumed meat. In recent
years, mass-production of meat has increasingly taken the place and the quality
of a lot of the meat sold has suffered. This is particularly true of pork. All
too often, short cuts are taken in production to cut costs and maximise
profits. As a result, a lot of the meat on sale is intensively farmed, using
hybrid breeds of animal that have been bred to grow rapidly and carry more
meat. They’re given artificial and concentrated feed to bulk them out quickly,
leaving little time for the meat to develop taste and texture. Meat from
animals that have been allowed to mature slowly in happy surroundings, fed on
natural or organic feed will have a rich flavour that, if you can find it,
makes it worth paying extra for.
Roast pork is
possibly the most divine meat known to man, and when it comes with crispy
crackling it's positively sublime. To achieve the perfect roast pork…allow the
meat to come to room temperature before you cook it.
Start roasting pork
at a high temperature (240°C/gas 9 or as high as your oven will go) to get the
heat through to the centre of the joint, and get the crackling off to a good
start. After 20 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180°C/gas 4 and continue to
roast for 25 minutes per 450g. To know when your pork is cooked: pierce the centre
of meat from the underside of the joint with a fine skewer. There should be no
traces of pink left in the juices. Clear juices indicate the pork is
sufficiently cooked, but that the meat will still be beautifully moist.
Always leave meat to
rest for 8-10 before carving.
Pork marries well
with so many different flavours from garlic, ginger, mushrooms, cabbage,
potatoes, onions and robust herbs such as rosemary, sage and thyme. I
particularly like it spiced with anything from anise, cumin and curry powder.
ASIAN STYLE PORK MEATBALLS
Ingredients serves
4
450g minced pork
1 garlic clove,
crushed,
2 tbsp clear honey
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 spring onions,
finely chopped
1tbsp fresh
coriander, finely chopped
1tsp cornflour
1 tsp lemongrass,
finely chopped
seasoning
Dipping Sauce:
50ml fish sauce
50ml lime juice
1tbsp dark soy sauce
2 garlic cloves,
crushed
3tbsp chopped ginger
3tbsp chopped
coriander
100g chopped spring
onions
1tbsp sesame oil
Make the meatballs.
Gently warm the honey in a non-stick frying pan, add the fish sauce and stir to
make a syrup. Leave to cool.
Put pork in a bowl
and fold in honey syrup, spring onions, garlic, lemongrass, cornflour, mint and
coriander. Mix and season with salt and lots of black pepper.
Shape into 20 balls
and put on a tray lined with greaseproof paper. Chill for 30 mins. To make the
sauce, mix all the ingredients together, then set aside.
Brush the balls with
olive oil and fry for 3-4 mins each side. Serve with the sauce.
LOMO
CON COL
Lomo con col is one of the most emblematic and popular dishes of
country
Style Mallorcan cuisine. It's the perfect thing for a
cold winters day. It consists of pork loin, sobrasada and butifarron wrapped in
cabbage leaves and baked in the oven with almonds, sultanas, bacon etc,
Ingrédients :
(serves six)
12 thick
slices of pork loin
12
large cabbage leaves, blanched
200g
chopped bacon
1 Spanish
onion, chopped
150g sobrasada
150g
butifarron, sliced
100ml
olive oil
100g
toasted almonds
50g
toasted pine nuts
300g
peeled, chopped tomatoes
100g
sultanas
3
garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbs chopped
parsley
Seasoning
Heat a large heavy-bottomed frying pan and fry the pork loins in a
little olive oil until sealed and golden brown. Lay out the cabbage leaves and
place a pork loin fillet in the centre of each one. Add a little sobrasada and
butifarron then wrap carefully to form neat parcels. place them in a baking
dish or an earthenware 'cazuela' and add the rest of the ingredients. Cover
with tin foil and bake in a moderate oven(180c/350f/gas 5) for about 10-15
minutes. Serve immediately.
ARROZ BRUT
RUSTIC MALLORCAN-STYLE RICE
Ingredients:
serves 6
300g
rice
3
quails (cut in half)
500g
rabbit pieces
200g
sobrasada (mallorcan pate)
1
sliced butifarron (black pudding)
1
Spanish onion (chopped)
4
garlic cloves (crushed)
250g
fresh peas (cooked)
300g
mixed wild mushrooms
3
tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
100ml
olive oil
1.5litres
chicken stock
2tbsp.
Chopped parsley
1tspn.
Paprika
Good pinch of saffron
Seasoning.
Heat the olive oil in
a heavy-bottomed saucepan and add the chopped onion, cook gently without colour
and add the crushed garlic, chopped tomatoes, paprika and saffron. Mix well and
cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the rice, wild mushrooms, rabbit pieces,
sobrasada and quails and cover with chicken stock. Bring to the boil and simmer
for 10 minutes. Add the sliced butifarron
And simmer for another
10 minutes.
Using a ladle, skim
off the fat and impurities that rise to the surface during cooking. Season with
salt and pepper, pour into a soup tureen and serve at the table.
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