Pork belly is, undoubtedly, one of my favourite cuts of meat. When cooked properly, it offers us crispy, salty crackling, meltingly tender meat and a delicious layer of fat. However, as is always the case with meat, we must chose what we buy carefully. The quality of pork available to us in this country varies considerably – at worst we have pork imported from the EU, reared in conditions that would be illegal in this country (sows confined in stalls, unable to even turn around). That’s not to say that the standards in the UK are consistently higher – our cheap UK pork comes from pigs who are still reared intensively indoors on wooden slats, without even any straw for bedding. We’re talking about social animals of a similar level of intelligence to dogs here – pigs love rooting around in mud, and they like having their own space from time to time. Frustration in our intensively reared pigs often leads to them biting each other’s tails, and as a result it is common for piglets to have their teeth clipped and tails docked without anasthetic. All of this simply because we refuse to pay a few extra pennies for our bacon? Not for me thanks.
There is, of course, an alternative. The main labels to look out for if you want to buy pork from pigs that have had a happy life (and regardless of what you think about the ethics, there is no doubt that slow growing, traditionally reared pork tastes much better) are free range and organic. ‘Outdoor-bred’ and ‘outdoor-reared’ pork varies in welfare standards – the pigs still spend a large portion of their lives indoors, sometimes in less than desirable conditions. If you can, it is worth searching out a local producer of rare breed pork – these pigs are traditional breeds, shunned by commercial agriculture post-WWII when production intensified because they grow slowly, and don’t deal well with a life indoors. Without exception these rare breeds (Middle White, Gloucester Old Spot, Saddleback and more) taste amazing. They have more fat, which gives the meat flavour and keeps it moist during cooking. Happily, while it is fattier, it tends to contain more mono-unsaturated fat and less saturated fat than intensively farmed pork so is also a healthier option. A great number of small producers across the country are now specialising in rare breed pork – we get our middle white pork and bacon at our local farmers market (http://ravensworthgrangefarm.co.uk/). If you have a producer near you then I urge you to support them – without these producers the breeds would eventually die out which would be a great, great loss. Yes, it costs a little more than cheap supermarket pork but who cares? Eat less, and eat better quality.
Anyway, back to the roast pork belly:
Really easy to cook – make sure the skin is dry, and score it with a sharp knife (or get the butcher to do it). Rub plenty of salt into the skin, and a few aromatics if you fancy (crushed fennel seeds, coriander seeds, caraway…. etc.). Preheat your oven to maximum and roast the pork for about 20 mins until the skin crackles, then turn it right down to 160C and roast for a further 2 hours or so until the meat is very tender. I threw a loads of root veg, and a few segments of lemon and orange under the pork for the last hour of cooking. Rest the meat for at least 15 minutes once it comes out of the oven. Serve with the roasted roots and anything else you fancy. The meat should be so juicy that you don’t really need a gravy. Makes great leftovers for sandwiches, stir frys, salads etc.
In other news, a trip to the farmers market this morning yielded a pheasant, a woodcock, roe venison strip loin, 2 pigeon breasts, 2 guinea fowl breasts, 2 middle white pork chops, 2 packs of middle white bacon, middle white chipolatas and 4 pig kidneys. Should keep us going for a month or so!
No comments:
Post a Comment