Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery by Jane Grigson

Author:Jane Grigson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Bisac Code 1: CKB092000
ISBN: eBook ISBN: 978-1-908117-93-9
Publisher: Grub Street Cookery
Published: 2008-11-04T00:00:00+00:00

Mix it all well together. Put about ¾ lb. in the bottom of a stoneware pot.

Take the piece of belly of pork and rub a good handful of salt firmly into the skin side. Turn it over and rub some more into the flesh side, but not so vigorously. Lay it on the layer of salt, flesh side down, skin side up, and pack the rest of the salt round the sides and over the top. Put a piece of boiled wood on top (or a scrupulously clean plate) and a light weight.

Leave in a cool, dark place for at least 4 days per inch thickness of meat. You can leave the petit salé, on the other hand, in salt for much longer—one handbook recommends two months. You will find that the meat juices turn the salt to brine.

Cook the petit salé in plenty of plain water, bringing it slowly to the boil, and timing it from then. As belly of pork is never very thick, an hour is the maximum time required; 40 minutes is usually enough. Taste the water, and pour it away after five minutes simmering, if it is too salty. Alternatively, if the meat has been salting for several weeks, soak in tepid water for 2 hours before you start cooking.

Whichever you do, saltiness is easy to remedy, so don’t panic. Serve hot with mashed potato, or arranged in slices on top of choucroute. Cold, the way the charcutier sells it, it makes a delicious meal with salad.

Petit salé is an excellent accompaniment, in the English style, to roast chicken or turkey. It is often an ingredient of cassoulet and cabbage soups and stews, potée for instance.

Petit Salé aux Choux

Here is the good Roman dish, so approved of by the Emperor Claudius.

Choose a crisp, savoy cabbage, cut it in quarters and remove the hard stem part. Whilst the petit salé is simmering away, plunge the cabbage into another pan of fast boiling water, and leave it there for ten minutes. Drain it well. Pour away the blanching water and remove enough liquid from the petit salé pan to give a ¼ inch depth in the cabbage pan. Twenty minutes before the petit salé is ready, bring this liquid to the boil and put in the cabbage to cook quickly, with a knob of butter as well.

Cut the petit salé in slices and serve on top of the cabbage, which should still be slightly crisp and not a mush.

NOTE: Many recipes tell you to cook the cabbage in with the petit salé, but the above method gives a much pleasanter result.

Petit Salé aux Pois Secs

Wintry petit salé is delicious with a purée of dried peas, which you should have soaked overnight and cooked in with the meat. When they are done, remove them from the liquid and sieve. Reheat in a separate dish with a good knob of butter, and a little meat jelly if you have some, or a spoonful or two of the petit salé liquid.

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