It’s crazy to think that many of my most favorite food items…bacon, pulled pork, carnitas, pork belly, prosciutto, pork chops, numerous variety of sausages, baby back ribs…are all sourced from the same animal. How can it be that all of these very different things, from the mouth-wateringly tender baby back ribs, to the cured and thinly sliced greatness that is prosciutto, to the also cured but totally different tasting bacon, all come from the same source? That one single animal could be such a source of culinary wizardry is fascinating to the budding chef in me. Because of this, I was happy that we’d be devoting a full class to pork. Even if we didn’t talk about anything other than pork chops, I was happy to know that we were acknowledging the noble pig and all that it has to offer.
One of things that I think is most interesting about the pig is also something that Chef S mentioned in his lecture; people are universally pretty good at utilizing all parts of the pig. Parts from the head, extremities, organs, in addition to the various primal parts of a pig, find themselves put to use in a vast number of dishes. Even the fat from the pig is useful from a culinary viewpoint. In class, we discussed the 5 different primal parts of the pig and their general culinary applications. 2 of these parts come from the front section of the pig (not including the head); the top part of the shoulder makes up the shoulder butt and the bottom part of the shoulder including the top part of the front leg makes up the picnic shoulder. The shoulder butt and picnic shoulder cuts are relatively similar in that they are both very fatty and flavorful and also relatively inexpensive. They both lend themselves quite well to applications of moist heat cooking and are also very well suited to being smoked, pulled apart, and turned into exceptionally delicious BBQ pork.
The next primal part is the loin, located behind the shoulder and basically running along the back and top-half of the pig, and it includes all of the ribs and the loin muscle itself. Center cut chops (cut from the first 7 ribs), loin roasts, baby back ribs, and the tenderloin are all examples of smaller cuts sourced from the loin. Cuts from the loin are usually well suited for applications of dry heat cooking…loin roasts are commonly roasted and pork chops are commonly broiled, grilled, or even pan-fried. Below the loin is the belly, the source of spare ribs and bacon. Finally, we have the ham. This primal part usually refers to the entire back leg. There are lots of culinary options when it comes to ham; it can either be fresh or cured and/or smoked, bone-in or boneless, and partially or fully cooked or raw. Ham hocks, basically shank bones located towards the top of the hind leg, are often smoked and used as flavoring in lots of dishes.
In class today, we’d be working with the loin. As we did during our dry-heat cookery class, we’d each have a turn at removing the cuts of meat from this loin that we’d need to use in our recipes. Celia and I worked together again today to produce the items on the serving platter below:
I made the roasted, boneless pork loin and ‘blooming’ onion while Celia made the mustard sauce that was served over the pork and the gruyere-topped corn cakes. The pork loin was surprisingly easy to cook but the butchering was another story, mostly because the loin was still partially frozen while I attempted to clean it up (by trimming the excess fat and bone shards). Once the loin had been cleaned, I applied a salt-fresh rosemary-fresh thyme rub about an hour before roasting it. I always forget how quickly things cook in the convection oven and this pork was no exception. The 24 oz specimen only required 30 minutes in a 350 degree convection oven until its internal temperature had reached 143 degrees. Chef S advised us in his lecture that the finishing temperature for pork is 150 degrees; by removing the pork roast a few degrees shy of that mark, I’d be relying on carry-over cooking to bring the roast up to the correct finished temperature. The blooming onion was also pretty easy to make; cut off the top and bottom of an onion, peel it, then cut into it sort of like cutting a pizza (making sure not to cut all the way through). Place the onion into a ramekin to help it hold its shape, then top with salt and pepper, butter, veal stock, and bake until tender.
Other dishes on the day included pork empanadas:
The emapnadas were split into 2 batches…one was fried and the other was baked. The dough is similar to puff pastry dough, except here the butter is replaced by lard. The 2 kinds of empanadas were actually quite different tasting even though they both had the same filling. Naturally, I preferred the deep-fried version.
Here’s a lovely composed salad:
I included this shot for reference purposes. Chef S insists that all students should know how to create a composed salad (as opposed to just throwing a bunch of greens on a plate). Chef really liked the way that this salad was put together, so let’s call this a prototype for all composed salads going forward.
Pan-fried pork chops:
Weinerschnitzel with homemade Spaetzle:
The Weinerschnitzel was made from pieces of the tenderloin that had been pounded out into thin pieces and pan fried. The spaetzle was made by combining milk, eggs, flour, salt, nutmeg, fresh herbs, and a small shot of oil in a food processor until a smooth batter was formed. After allowing it to rest, the batter was then poured into a food mill and turned slowly over a pot of boiling water to create the familiar spaetzle ‘droplet’ shape. This was another fun day in class. We set a 2pm target for dinner and only missed that mark by a few minutes and everyone’s pork dishes really turned out great. On the menu for next week, lamb. I’m really enjoying this stretch of classes; on a weekly basis we are eating well and learning a lot.
