Peus de Porc a la Catalana

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy pot, 7 to 8 litre capacity
• •Wide heavy casserole with lid, about 30cm
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Mortar and pestle
• •Small heavy frying pan
• •Skimming spoon or ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean and blanch

   Check that the butcher has scrubbed, singed, and split the trotters lengthwise. Rinse them well, set them in a large pot with 3 litres of cold water, and bring to a full boil. Boil for 8 minutes, then drain. Rinse the trotters and wash the grey foam from the pot. This first blanch gives you a cleaner cooking liquor and a sauce that tastes of pork, not scum.

   Ask the butcher to do the splitting. Pig's trotters are hard, round, and an unnecessary argument with a home knife.
2. 2

   Simmer until yielding

   Return the trotters to the clean pot. Add 3.5 litres of fresh cold water, the leek, carrot, halved onion, bay leaves, thyme, cloves, peppercorns, and 12g of the salt. Bring up slowly, skim any foam, then lower the heat and partially cover. Simmer at the barest movement for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours. They are ready when a small knife enters the thickest joint easily and the flesh has begun to draw back from the bone, but each half still holds together.

3. 3

   Strain the liquor

   Lift the trotters carefully onto a tray. Strain the cooking liquor and measure out 750ml. Skim the surface fat with a ladle, leaving a little behind for flavour. Keep the trotters covered while they cool enough to handle; exposed skin becomes dry and sticky.

4. 4

   Build the sofregit

   Heat 50ml of the olive oil in a wide, heavy casserole over low heat. Add the chopped onions and 6g of the salt. Cook for 35 to 45 minutes, stirring often, until dark gold, soft, and almost jammy. Add the 2 sliced garlic cloves and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for another 25 to 30 minutes, until the mixture is dark brick-red, a spoon leaves a clear track across the pan, and the oil begins to show at the edges. This slow loss of water is where the sweetness comes from; rush it and the sauce stays pale and thin.

   If the onion catches before it softens, add 15ml of the reserved cooking liquor and lower the heat. Don't add sugar. Time is what the onion needs.
5. 5

   Begin the braise

   Pour the vi ranci into the sofregit and scrape up everything from the bottom. Let it bubble gently for 3 minutes, until the raw smell of alcohol has gone. Add 600ml of the reserved cooking liquor and the ground black pepper. Arrange the trotters in the sauce, skin side upward, bring it to a low xup-xup, and partially cover. Braise gently for 30 minutes. Shake the casserole once or twice instead of turning the fragile pieces with a spoon.

6. 6

   Pound the picada

   Toast the almonds and hazelnuts in a dry frying pan over medium-low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, moving them often, until fragrant and lightly coloured. Set them aside. Add the remaining 10ml olive oil to the pan and fry the bread cubes until golden. Pound the 2 whole garlic cloves and parsley in a mortar, then add the toasted nuts and bread and work everything into a coarse paste. Pound in the grated chocolate if using. Loosen the picada with 30ml of sauce from the casserole.

7. 7

   Finish at xup-xup

   Work the picada into the sauce around the trotters. Keep the casserole uncovered at the gentlest xup-xup for 15 to 20 minutes, shaking it occasionally, until the sauce is glossy and thick enough to cling to the back of a spoon. If it tightens too far, add the remaining cooking liquor in 50ml additions. Taste before using the final 2g salt. The sauce should be deeply savoury, not aggressively salty.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Take the casserole off the heat and rest it for 20 minutes. The sauce will settle and thicken as the gelatin cools slightly. Serve one whole trotter per person in a shallow bowl with plenty of sofregit and picada sauce, and bread for the bottom of the bowl. Tal com es fa allí, exactly as it's made there.

Chef Tips

• •Buy front or hind trotters according to what your butcher has; careful cleaning matters more than the end of the animal. Have them singed, scrubbed, and split lengthwise before you take them home.
• •Use ripe fresh tomatoes only when they smell of tomato. During the rest of the year, canned whole peeled tomatoes are the honest choice. They give a slightly rounder, less fresh-tasting sofregit, but far better depth than a pale raw tomato.
• •Vi ranci is a Catalan oxidative wine with mellow nut and dried-fruit notes. Dry oloroso or amontillado is the closest practical substitute; it makes the sauce a little sharper and more walnut-like.
• •The chocolate is a household variation, not a licence to make the sauce sweet. Use only 8g. It should disappear into the picada and deepen the brown sauce without announcing itself.
• •Cold leftovers will set almost solid because the trotters are rich in gelatin. Nothing has gone wrong. Reheat slowly with a little reserved cooking liquor and the sauce returns to a glossy spooning consistency.
• •A fresh Catalan red with good acidity, such as a garnatxa and carinyena blend from Montsant, stands up to the gelatin-rich sauce without making the meal feel heavier.

Advance Preparation

• •The trotters can be simmered up to 2 days ahead. Cool them in enough strained cooking liquor to cover, refrigerate, then lift them out gently before making the sofregit.
• •The finished dish is better after one night in the refrigerator. Cool it within 2 hours, cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
• •To reheat, add 100ml of reserved cooking liquor, cover, and warm over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes. Shake the casserole occasionally and uncover for the final few minutes if the sauce needs thickening.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 475g)