Salt pork

petit salé

What it is

The name is literal — lightly salted — and it is the oldest way of keeping pork before refrigeration: belly, shoulder or ribs held a few days in brine, not dried, not smoked, still raw. It survived on French menus as petit salé aux lentilles, a dish that is the preservation method and its own reheating recipe at once.

In the kitchen

Soak it twelve hours in cold water, changing the water twice, then start it in fresh cold water and never let it boil — boiling tightens the meat and it does not come back. Taste the broth at thirty minutes before adding any salt.

Goes with

Puy lentil Carrot Savoy cabbage Onion Bay leaf Clove Leek Dijon mustard

Same species

Andouillette Boudin blanc Natural casings Caul fat Chorizo Ciauscolo

Also used with

Lamb tripe

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