Chef Juliette
Fresh Leg of Pork
Jambon frais rôti teaches the quiet discipline of the roast: fierce heat for bronze, gentle heat for an even center, then a proper rest before carving into juicy slices.
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Fresh Neck of Pork à la Soissonnaise
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1390, Fresh Neck of Pork à la Soissonnaise, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Burnished pork collar finishes gently over Soissons beans, which drink the roast juices and become both garnish and sauce. One oven-to-table dish carries the whole generous business.
Main Dishes
French
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
20 min
Active Time
2 hr 15 min cook•2 hr 55 min total
Yield4 servings
Échine de porc frais à la Soissonnaise (uncured pork neck with Soissons beans) teaches one true thing: a garnish becomes part of the roast when it finishes in the meat's own juices. The beans go in only when the pork is three-quarters done. Earlier, they collapse and parch; later, they merely sit beside it.
Many grand-kitchen recipes assumed a saucier on staff, a stock never off the fire, and a salamander. This spare entry assumes none of them. Its professional convenience is quieter: a joint trimmed for service, cooked Soissons beans waiting in the larder, and a roasting dish handsome enough to meet the table. For four, I use a 2¾-pound boneless collar and reduce the book's quart of beans to 1⅔ cups, roughly two-fifths of its service quantity. A home gratin dish replaces the large service platter, while a thermometer translates the vague instruction “three-parts done.” Jarred or canned beans are the honest equivalent of that waiting larder pot because the source begins with them already cooked. That preparation is scaffolding. Roasting first, adding well-drained beans, and completing everything gently together is the dish, and it stays.
Expect a deeply bronzed roast surrounded by broad ivory beans, their skins glossy with pork juices and their edges just beginning to color. No separate sauce is wanted. Wait until the centre of the meat reaches 140 to 145°F (60 to 63°C) before adding the beans; that moment decides the whole preparation. One cook, one stove, one evening.
À la Soissonnaise belongs to Soissons and the surrounding Soissonnais in the Aisne, within historic Picardy, where the notably large white Haricot de Soissons has long been a prized local crop. Grand kitchens carried the bean's place-name into classical nomenclature, but the practice stayed close to household cookery: a joint roasts, cooked beans absorb its juices, and the same dish goes to the table. In classical usage, fresh means uncured pork rather than salted or smoked meat, and the beans are meant to finish around it without a separate sauce.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
boneless pork neck or collar roast
Quantity
1 roast, about 2¾ lb (1.25 kg)
tied
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g)
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g)
cooked Soissons white beans
Quantity
1⅔ cups (400 ml / 300 g)
well drained
hot water (optional)
Quantity
Up to ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g)
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| boneless pork neck or collar roasttied | 1 roast, about 2¾ lb (1.25 kg) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
| cooked Soissons white beanswell drained | 1⅔ cups (400 ml / 300 g) |
| hot water (optional) | Up to ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Snug 2½ to 3-quart oven-to-table roasting or gratin dish
- •Instant-read or probe thermometer
- •Kitchen string
- •Large colander
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the roast
Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) with a rack in the lower-middle position. Pat the pork completely dry, then season every surface with 1½ teaspoons of the salt and all the pepper. If the butcher has not tied it, loop kitchen string around the roast at 1½-inch (4 cm) intervals so the irregular neck holds an even shape. Set it fat-side up in a snug oven-to-table roasting dish. Use no rack: the beans will need direct access to the rendered juices.
- 2
Start it hot
Roast for 20 minutes, until the upper surface begins to turn a firm Maillard bronze. Lower the oven to 325°F (165°C) and continue roasting for 60 to 75 minutes, checking the centre with a thermometer after the first hour. Stop this first stage when it reads 140 to 145°F (60 to 63°C). This is the honest home measure of three-quarters done. If the juices around the meat begin darkening faster than the crust, lower the heat early and add 1 tablespoon of the hot water around the edge of the dish; brown is flavor, black is bitterness.
- 3
Ready the beans
While the pork roasts, leave the cooked beans in a colander for at least 10 minutes. They must be tender all the way through but still intact, and their surfaces should feel well drained rather than wet. The oven is finishing their flavor, not cooking hard centres. Taste one and use some or all of the remaining ½ teaspoon salt only if needed.
Do not rinse good jarred Soissons beans unless their preserving liquid tastes unpleasant. Rinse canned substitutes if their liquor is metallic or excessively salty, then drain them thoroughly again. - 4
Surround at three-quarters
When the pork reaches 140 to 145°F (60 to 63°C), draw out the dish. If the neck has released a deep pool of clear fat, spoon off the excess, leaving about 2 tablespoons along with every browned meat juice. Set the beans closely around the roast and turn them once, gently, through those juices without breaking their skins. Do not build a separate sauce. The fond, rendered pork fat, and beans are the complete foundation of the entry.
- 5
Finish gently
Return the dish to the 325°F (165°C) oven and roast for another 35 to 50 minutes. The pork is ready when its centre reaches 167 to 172°F (75 to 78°C), the crust is burnished, and a probe enters with little resistance; the beans should be glossy, hot throughout, and lightly colored where they touch the dish. If the beans begin to parch before the pork is ready, drizzle a spoonful or two of the remaining hot water around the rim and lay a loose strip of foil over the beans while leaving the meat exposed. Ça se rattrape. Never pour water over the crust.
- 6
Rest in the dish
Rest the pork for 20 minutes in its serving dish, tenting only the meat loosely with foil. The beans will continue drinking in the settled juices as the fibres of the roast relax. Remove the string, carve the neck into generous slices, and spoon the Soissons beans and every remaining drop of juice alongside. Serve the dish exactly as it stands. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask for neck, collar, or the well-marbled upper end of the shoulder, boned and tied. Lean loin is not an equivalent; it finishes before the beans can take on the roast juices and lacks the connective tissue that keeps this cut succulent.
- •True Haricots de Soissons are exceptionally large white beans with delicate skins. If they cannot be found, use large white butter beans. Cannellini will work, but their smaller, softer bodies require gentler turning and may color sooner.
- •Resist garlic, herbs, wine, stock, and a separate sauce. They would make a pleasant pork roast, but not this precise entry. Its character comes from the beans completing their cooking in the seasoned pork juices.
- •A dry northern French cider suits the rich neck and floury beans beautifully. A light red with lively acidity also works; avoid a heavily tannic bottle, which can make white beans seem chalky.
Advance Preparation
- •Cook dried Soissons beans up to 3 days ahead, stopping when they are completely tender but still intact. Cool them in their cooking liquid, chill, then drain thoroughly before the roast reaches the oven.
- •The pork can be tied and seasoned a day ahead. Keep it uncovered in the cold so its surface dries, which gives the roast a stronger crust.
- •The finished dish can be made a day ahead. Cool it within 2 hours, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat covered at 300°F (150°C) with 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) hot water around the beans until the pork reaches 165°F (74°C), then uncover for the final 10 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
830 calories
Total Fat
58 g
Saturated Fat
21 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
34 g
Cholesterol
180 mg
Sodium
1350 mg
Total Carbohydrates
19 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
59 g
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