Wednesday 17 February 2010

Pork


I was talking with Don Kerstens from Select Fine Foods about Berkshire pigs and pork fat and also cooking with pork blood - more about that later - which reminded me of a tasty sandwich I had in New York at Porchetta last month.  Porchetta is not a restaurant, but a small storefront with a counter, some stools and a short menu. The reason to go here is revealed immediately on entering - a wonderful piece of roasted crisp pork waiting to be carved - their version of porchetta.

 

Here it is piled into a ciabatta bun in with the bits of crackling lying amongst the pieces of meat. Watch your teeth. The meat is well seasoned with a mixture of rosemary, garlic, sage, salt, pepper and according to the menu wild fennel pollen then slow roasted with its skin. It was delicious.  I would have liked a fattier cut, like the shoulder instead of the loin, but New Yorkers are not huge fat fans, yet. And just in case you think I eat only meat and fat, I did order the garlic greens too. 

4 comments:

Sally said...

Interesting to see the way the pork is scored - like you would do a ham. Use to seeing just lines of scoring - I think this way looks great.

jeffb said...

Looks very apetising will try this method of scoring next time I cook a pork joint

Sarah said...

Jennifer - a question from a fat novice.

I've been roasting hams this winter, taking advantage of wonderful sales with the bone in. I tried a covered roast with a sugar water bath last time, which has yielded a beautifully clear cranberry-colored gelatin. Is this aspic? What would you do with it?

Thanks in advance.

Jennifer said...

Hello Sarah,

Yes it is a type of aspic. I have a couple of questions; why is it cranberry coloured? Does it taste sweet?
Let me know and I'll try to answer your question.

Jennifer

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