Charcuterie, the French art and science of pork bi-products, appeared, in recent memory, to be a dieing craft. Interest has resurged, however, and many artisan producers are taking up the charcuterer’s mantle, not to mention the innumerable restaurants now producing house-cured everything.
For the adventurous home cook, charcuterie can be unapproachable. Doing it well tends to require the acquisition of a lot of specialty tools and meats. The capital expense of acquiring a reasonable meat grinder and sausage stuffer alone can be dissuasive, to say nothing of the difficulties of tracking down sodium nitrite or hog casings. It is also one of those crafts – like fermenting pickles or home canning – that can be dangerous if not done carefully and precisely, and subsequently seems better left to professionals.
A taste of good quality charcuterie – a fine paté for example – often becomes a compulsion bordering on addiction. An addiction not easily sated in the less populous parts of the world.
A good fix is available for the home cook: Potted Pork, a.k.a. rillettes, are an easy, fantastic project, requiring no special equipment and no ingredients not readily available at a decent supermarket. And they are tasty. In fact, arriving home from class one day as a culinary student, I announced to my wife that “I was in bakeshop today when Chef Jaques came in with the tastiest thing, ever.” My opinion hasn’t changed.
Potted Pork (Rillettes du Porc)
It is best to seek out a local and/or heirloom source for the pork used for this. The distinctive, earthy flavor is important, as is the higher fat content typical of non-industrial pork. If retreating to readily available commodity pork, such as found at the typical supermarket, the spicing may need to be a little more aggressive than I’ve used here. One possible variation is using a Chinese Five Spice Blend instead of just the nutmeg.
Ingredients:
1 lbs fat back, cut into ½ inch cubes(optional)
8 lbs boneless pork butt (shoulder)
1.5 lbs. white meat stock (or water)
1/2 t freshly grated nutmeg
1.5 ounces fine sea salt
2 each bay leaves
6-8 peppercorns
6-8 thyme sprigs
1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
Method:
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Bind bay leaves, peppercorns, thyme sprigs and shallot slices in a double-layer cheesecloth “sachet” and secure with a 10 – 12 inch piece of butcher’s twine – it is helpful if your sachet has enough of excess string that it can also be tied to the handle of your pot for easy retrieval later.
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Inspect the pork butt for bone fragments, which can sometimes cling to cavity from which the shoulder joint has been removed. If present, trim away.
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Cut the pork into medium-large cubes, ½ inch – 1 ½ inches in size, removing any really tough connective tissue you encounter as you go. The precision and expertise with which you do this is largely immaterial: the cubes will have not have any recognizable dimension in the finished project and all but the toughest connective tissue (“silverskin”) will melt away during the long, slow cooking time. The smaller you cube the meat, the finer, softer texture the rillettes will have, which is a matter of personal preference. Some people like a soft, fine, spreadable texture and should cut small cubes. If you prefer a coarser, more pulled-pork like texture that more obviously resembles meat, cut the cubes larger.
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Toss the cubed pork with 1 ounce of the salt and the freshly grated nutmeg. (Reserve the remaining ½ ounce to adjust the seasoning of the finished product).
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Combine seasoned pork, stock or water, optional fatback and spice “sachet” in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Set over a low flame, stirring occasionally, and simmer slowly 1 ½ – 2 ½ hours, until the pork is literally falling apart. Not all of the meat need be covered by liquid at first: as the fat renders, it should be sufficient to completely submerge the meat. If necessary, after ½ hour or so of cooking, add a little more water or stock to the pot to make sure all of the pork is submerged. This also may be necessary in the later stages of cooking to keep the temperature of the rendering fat from creeping too high. For best results, maintain the temperature of the pot below 200° F — the pork shouldn’t render so far that it begins to brown or fry in the fat. At a nice, low temperature, overcooking is a virtual impossibility, so make sure the pork is literally falling-apart tender before removing it from the flame. (Those who are so inclined might find a counter-top slow-cooker, like a Crock Pot, to be ideal for this application.)
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Remove the “sachet,” and allow the cooked pork to cool slightly in the cooking liquid – 20 – 30 minutes at room temperature should suffice. The meat should be allowed to rest, but you don’t want it to cool to the point that the melted fat solidifies very much.
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Drain the pork in a colander or coarse strainer, reserving both the pork and its cooking liquid. Transfer the warm pork to an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix it at low speed until it is slightly cooled and completely shredded. A bowl of ice under the work bowl of your mixer may be helpful for this if the kitchen is warm.
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As the pork mixes, slowly add ¼ of the cooking liquid/rendered fat to the bowl of the mixer in a steady stream. As the fat is added and mixed with the shredded pork, it should steadily cool, stiffening and becoming creamy. Continue adding the cooking liquid, in stages, until a pleasingly creamy texture is achieved. Ideally you will use only about 7/8th of the liquid for this, but you may find you need to use all of it. Taste the pork between additions, also, and include more salt if needed. Keep in mind that the rillettes will be served chilled, and should therefore taste a tiny bit too salty when still warm.
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Once cool, the rillettes can be served immediately or tightly wrapped and refrigerated for service within the next 2-3 days. If planning to store the rillettes for more than 2-3 days, you should pack them into a non-reactive container (or into small ramekins for individual service), making sure to pack them tightly, without any gaps or air bubbles which can hasten spoilage. To prevent oxidation, the rillettes should then be sealed with a ¼ inch layer of melted fat taken from the top of the remaining cooking liquid. Stored in this manner in the refrigerator, the rillettes may keep as long as 10 days under their protective fat cap – though they should also be wrapped to prevent the absorption of refrigerator odors. For longer storage, it is best to seal the rillettes with fat as explained above, and then freeze, where they can last for as long as six months (thaw slowly under refrigeration for 1-2 days before serving.)
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Enjoy! Like other charcuterie items, rillettes should be served with crusty bread, spicy mustard and a variety of sweet-tart pickles. Pairs well with most full-flavored beers, or with lighter-style, quaff-able red wines.
To everyone who tasted our potted pork at this year’s Taste of the Nation event in Manchester, NH and subsequently came looking for the promised recipe on the manordining blog, my apologies. High winds and, distressingly, SNOW played havoc with our power and phone lines last Thursday, when this recipe was meant to be posted.
Thanks to everyone who did come out to the Taste of the Nation event, however. It was a remarkable turn-out. Thanks, too, to the many folks with who offered their positive comments on the inn and our potted pork offering at the event. See you next year!
