Charcuterie_ The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing - Michael Ruhlman [125]
Techniques vary—some cooks prefer to use confited meat rather than meat simmered in stock, for instance—but the key to a rich flavor and a creamy texture remains the right proportion of fat to meat. The smooth but meaty texture is also aided by the gelatin the meat releases during the long, slow cooking.
Fish, of course, don’t contain as much or the same kind of fat as meat, and so to make rillettes from fish (salmon is a common choice), the fat you add is butter, and often the crock is sealed with clarified butter.
Whether meat or fish, or even, loosely speaking, vegetable (see page 270), the other components of rillettes are simply fat and seasonings. Also characteristic of so much of charcuterie is that, packed in small elegant containers, they’re the perfect portable food, whether you’re bringing a dish to a party, having a picnic, or out for a day sail. Rillettes are so good we’d like to see more people serving them.
CLASSIC PORK RILLETTES
When a waiter sets down a crock of rillettes in a bistro in France, this is most likely what it will be. Pork is inexpensive and easily enhanced through cooking with aromatics, and its fat is naturally creamy. This is an excellent all-purpose version of rillettes, which is sometimes referred to as Le Mans–style, after the city in northwestern France famed for its pork rillettes.
This recipe calls for white veal stock, amazing for its neutrality and for the depth of flavor it brings to almost any meat preparation.
1 large leek
1 small bunch fresh thyme
3 bay leaves
1 celery stalk
8 black peppercorns
1 medium onion, studded with 5 cloves
3 pounds/1.5 kilograms boneless very fatty pork butt, cut into 1-inch/2.5-centimeter dice
Kosher salt
2 quarts/2 liters White Veal Stock (recipe follows) or water
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
About 8 ounces/225 grams rendered pork fat (see page 260)
A small square of cheesecloth
1. Split the leek lengthwise in half, stopping about 1 inch/2.5 centimeters from the root end, and wash it thoroughly to remove any dirt or mud from between the layers. Lay the thyme and bay leaves inside the split leek, lay the celery stalk next to it, and tie them all together with butcher’s string (an aromatic bundle called a bouquet garni).
2. Crack the peppercorns with the side of a knife so that they’ll release their flavor, and tie them up in the cheesecloth.
3. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F./150 degrees C.
4. Place the pork in a 6-quart/6-liter pot and cover with water to by about 2 inches/5 centimeters. Bring to a boil, then drain the pork, and rinse it under cold water (a way to quickly eliminate blood and impurities). Return the pork to the clean pot and add the bouquet garni, peppercorns, onion, 1 tablespoon/15 grams salt, and stock. Bring to a simmer, cover, and place in the oven. Cook until the meat is falling-apart tender, 4 to 6 hours.
5. Remove the pork from the pot, and set aside to cool somewhat. Strain the liquid, and set aside.
6. When the meat is cooled to slightly above room temperature, place in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed, slowly adding enough reserved liquid, until the meat shreds thoroughly and the mixture takes on a moist spreadable texture, 1 to 2 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary (remembering that this will be served at room temperature so it should be seasoned assertively).
7. Spoon the mixture into individual ramekins or crocks. Refrigerate until chilled, then pour about 1⁄8 inch/0.25 centimeter rendered fat on top to seal the ramekins. Return to the refrigerator until shortly before serving, or up to 2 weeks.
8. Remove the rillettes from the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving; they’re most flavorful and easiest to serve at room temperature.
Yield: 8 portions
White Veal Stock
Veal stock is a culinary treasure that’s very rarely made at home, but it’s no more difficult to prepare than chicken stock. And if you’ve ever wondered why a great restaurant’s sauces are so much more distinguished than