Pork cheek

Joue de porc

What it is

Each pig gives two, at around eighty grams apiece: the lean masseter buried inside the jowl whose surrounding fat is cured into guanciale. Where a beef cheek is a four-hour braise, this one is done in ninety minutes, and it carries so much fat within the muscle that it can be braised with none added.

In the kitchen

Ninety minutes at a bare simmer, then stop: pork cheek does not reward the long braise beef cheek does, and past two hours the fibres let go and dry out. Brown them hard first — they are small, so the crust is most of the flavour.

Goes with

Cider vinegar Onion Bay leaf Garlic Carrot White beans Thyme Pimentón de la Vera

Same species

Andouillette Boudin blanc Natural casings Caul fat Chorizo Ciauscolo

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