Canarian · Main · From the menu Huerta

Canarian black pork belly, apple, carrot

Name: Canarian black pork belly, apple, carrot
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 300 min
Total time: 330 min
Yield: Six
Cuisine: Canarian
Ingredients: 1.5 kg pork belly, skin off, ideally cerdo negro canario; 2 tbsp coarse salt; 1 tbsp brown sugar; 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed; 4 cloves garlic, crushed; 2 bay leaves; 500 ml chicken stock; 6 medium carrots; 2 firm apples, one for purée and one raw; 1 tbsp cider vinegar; 30 g cold butter; Thyme, salt, pepper

Panceta de cerdo negro canario, manzana, zanahoria

Belly from the island's black pig, cooked slowly under its own fat, pressed overnight and then crisped to order. Apple for acidity, carrot cooked in the pork juices for sweetness.

Serves: Six
Prep: 30 min
Cook: 300 min
Cuisine: Canarian

Cerdo negro canario is a slower-growing pig with more fat through the meat, and it rewards the long cook the way a supermarket belly does not. This is a two-day dish and the pressing overnight is what gives you a clean square with a crust rather than something that falls apart on the plate.

Ingredients

1.5 kg pork belly, skin off, ideally cerdo negro canario
2 tbsp coarse salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
500 ml chicken stock
6 medium carrots
2 firm apples, one for purée and one raw
1 tbsp cider vinegar
30 g cold butter
Thyme, salt, pepper

Method

The day before: rub the belly with the salt, sugar, fennel and garlic and leave it uncovered in the fridge for four hours. Rinse and dry it well.
Put it in a deep tray with the bay and the stock, cover tightly with foil and cook at 140C for four and a half to five hours, until a skewer meets no resistance at all.
Lift the belly out and keep the tray juices. Lay the meat flat between two trays, put weight on top, and refrigerate overnight. Skim the set fat off the juices in the morning and keep both.
Cook one apple, peeled and chopped, with the vinegar and a splash of water until collapsing, then blend smooth with a knob of the butter and a pinch of salt.
Cut the carrots into large pieces and cook them gently in the reserved pork juices with thyme until tender and glazed, about 20 minutes. Add a little of the reserved fat if it looks dry.
Cut the pressed belly into six neat squares. Fry them fat side down in a dry hot pan, no oil, for four to five minutes until the crust is deep and crisp, then turn briefly and rest for two minutes.
Plate the purée, the carrots and the pork, then finish with thin matchsticks of the raw apple over the top for sharpness.

Serve it with. Papas arrugadas, and mojo picón for anyone who wants it.