Regional Pork Bellies

Several weeks ago our crew went down to Alex Pope's butcher shop, The Local Pig, where we learned how to butcher a whole 180 pound pig.  Well folks, we have been going hog wild over here at LLIO, pardon the expression.  After the class each participant received 10 pounds of pork, and Alex tried his best to give you exactly the cuts you wanted.  Me, I love pork fat.  All I wanted was the back fat (more on that in a later post), caul fat, and the belly.  Receiving that brown box full of fatty porky goodness made me feel like that kid from A Christmas Carol when he opened his Red Rider BB Gun.  I knew I was going to have fun, and potentially get hurt.

I wanted to do something different with this pork belly.  Everyone now a days is doing Asian pork belly sliders, BBQ belly, confit and fried pork belly and on and on.  I decided to go a different route, to a couple areas I know and love -- to the Provencal region of France and Basque region of Spain.

The Provencal region of France, to me, is known for its light but crisp flavors.  And for such a rich piece of meat like pork belly this was a perfect pairing.  I took a cut of the belly and scored the skin, just enough to cut all the way through the skin but not too much into the fat, and rubbed the outside with olive oil and salt from our preserved lemon jar.  The belly was then placed on a bed of celery, onions, lemon slices, fresh rosemary, garlic, thyme and tarragon.  The braising liquid combined lemon juice, chardonnay, and light chicken stock.  

The Basque braised belly is a whole different animal.  The flavors of this region are bold, substantial, and most of the time right in your face!  The complex and strong flavors worked well to offset the intense richness of the belly and helped to permeate the fat with a wonderful tomato, saffron, and red wine bouquet.  This started off by cooking down a mixture of garlic, carrots, celery and onions in some olive oil.  When the vegetables started to take on some color I took them out, seasoned the belly liberally with salt and fresh cracked black pepper, and seared the belly in the pan.  After the belly was good and brown the pan was deglazed with red wine and beef stock.  

Both bellies were placed into the oven covered and slow cooked for about 4 hours till they were succulent and fork tender.  I took the bellies out of the pan and placed them in a hot hot oven till the skin turned wonderfully crisp and bubbly.  The sauces were strained, fat removed and reduced.  

 

And here they are -- Provencal pork belly with roasted fingerling potato salad with shaved fennel, celery and sweet onions.  Another option we tried was cooking some white beans in the Provencal braising liquid, and then tossing them while hot with fresh arugula. Then we have the Basque inspired pork belly with saffron rice and fresh peas.

 

I can see it now, a whole pork belly carving station with this beautiful crispy skinned belly resting on a board where carvers slice of steaming chunks of porky love.  But it can also be done as a plated item with a small square of the belly shining brightly on the plate.  Either way, it's hard to say no to a beautiful belly.

Stay tuned for more inspired dished from Lon Lane's Inspired Occasions Research and Development Department!