• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

There is nothing finer than having a bone to gnaw on at the end of a meal; meat will cook better on the bone; and your stockpot appreciates the contribution of plenty of bones.

—FERGUS HENDERSON. The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating

The Back End

The leg, with the feet and tail removed (see “The Extremities”) is one of the best pork cuts, and is sold either fresh or cured as ham (see page 77). Sometimes confusingly called a fresh ham, the leg often includes the pelvic bone, which should be removed before cooking. You can ask the butcher to do this. If the skin is left on the leg, it will turn into crisp crackling when it is roasted.

Whether in English or French the tastiest meat is close to the bone: The nearer the bone the sweeter the meat. La chair la plus près des os est la plus tendre.

Because it is a very large cut, the leg is commonly divided in two. The sirloin or butt half is the end closer to the middle of the animal, and it has a higher portion of meat to bone, but the shank end has is easier to carve.

A Chinese expression laments that you can’t get fat from a dry bone.

The Extremities

There are some pieces of the pig that seemingly disappear without a trace. The truth is, they are quickly snapped up by those who appreciate them. Ask your butcher to order them for you, or look for them in ethnic markets.

The shank, often called a hock, is the section between the knee and the foot. The back hocks may be left attached to the legs, while the smaller front hocks are almost always removed. Fresh hocks can be braised or poached, and smoked ones flavor dishes from beans to sauerkraut.

Pig’s feet, or trotters, come in two sizes: the larger back feet, often attached to the shank, and the smaller front feet. Both are commonly sold split. If you’re not adventurous enough to eat them, at least add them to your stockpot. Old recipes often suggest adding a calf’s foot to stock, but a pig’s foot is easier to find. Like calves’ feet, pig’s trotters are full of collagen. Two of them are a good substitute for a calf’s foot.

A bone of contention and having a bone to pick with someone refer to a dispute or disagreement.

Pig’s tails are not really curly—they merely have a slight bend. They are sold with the skin and a piece of the backbone attached. They add taste and texture to soups and stews.

A great bone of contention between Scindiah and Holkar.

—DUKE OF WELLINGTON. Dispatches 1.517 (1803)

There is a bone for gastronomers to pick

—WALTER SCOTT, Lockhart. Life VII, 215 (1830)

Pork Cooking Temperatures

Today pork is carefully controlled and while the parasite that causes trichinosis has not been entirely eliminated, it is much less prevalent. In any case it is killed when the meat is cooked to a temperature of 137°F (59°C). With their low fat content, many pork cuts, especially the loin, need careful cooking to prevent them from drying out. The loin can safely be left slightly pink and cooked to 1500F(65°C). Other cuts are cooked to 155° to 160°F (68° to 71°C). For accurate results, use an instant-read thermometer. Remember that larger cuts of meat, which need to rest before carving, will continue to cook during this time from the residual heat, raising their temperature by about 5°F (2°C). Always remove larger roasts from the oven before they reach their optimal temperature.

Brine for Pork

Although brining, soaking food in a heavily salted water, has been heralded as a new way to impart flavor to today’s lean pork, it is really a very old method used for preserving foods. When the meat is submerged, for hours or as long as a day or two, depending on its weight, in a salt solution, osmosis takes place, which increases the amount of liquid inside the meat’s cells. The result is a juicier, more flavorful piece of meat.

While a basic brine is simply a mixture of water and salt, most brines are balanced by the addition of sugar, and they can, like this one, be further enhanced with herbs and spices. Use