When it comes to eating pork, your palate knows no bounds. But the true adventurer inside you has always yearned for more than just bacon and chops. Herewith, our recommendations for enjoying the whole hog, from snout to tail.
Also known as fromage de tête, the head is braised in pork stock and white wine, and then boned. The tender pieces of braised meat are pressed into a terrine with chives, making for a lush, velvety pâté. The French really know how to braise a head.
Think of these cracklin-like fleshy flaps as nature’s croutons. Hailing from a small heritage pork producer in Avon Park, FL, the ears are braised in chicken stock, then fried and tossed with soy vinaigrette, orange, radish, onion, cilantro and arugula. Clearly, this is the secret to a good salad.
These are actually cubes of pork belly masquerading as cracklins. The alternating layers of white fat and pink meat are slow cooked, then fried and tossed with homemade buffalo sauce and served with gorgonzola dolce cheese dipping sauce. For when you require a belly full of belly.
Multitasking your snout-to-tail tour just got easier: this bacon-wrapped loin is a porcine twofer. And it’s that Benton’s hickory-smoked bacon, cured in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, that gives it that extra smoky kick. Never underestimate a country ham.
This may feel a bit Fear Factor, but the spicy tails are surprisingly tasty—like fattier, meatier chicken wings, the logs are tossed in a sauce made with Korean chilies, rice vinegar and soy, then served with a ranch-dressed celery salad. Paving the way for tails and beer night.
