Pied de Porc

The taste is certainly from the South of France. It's not particularly balanced, it's in no way light, it leaves you way too full: but in its fatty, heavy, meaty richness it is stunning. This is one of my favorite dishes at Hotel Eychenne.

Served over a bed of once-dried black trumpet mushrooms wilted in butter-- savory, and with an earthy, truffle-like taste-- sits two rounds, crispy and dark. The presentation is fungal, almost morbid. It is direct, lacking any false attempts of flashy presentation. 

These two rounds have a distinctly crispy outside. But its wrapping is certainly not of a flour-based coating. Once inside we're talking all bursts of meaty, fatty flavor. It's gelatinous, but melts smoothly. It's buttery and rich. There's a touch of cream, but its barely noticeable. There's more smoky, woodsy flavors.  

I begged to be taught to make this dish. And my pleads were accepted. 

Pied de Porc directly translates to "foot of the pig", for a simple reason: the meat inside of these round, meat-ball like objects, is from the gelatinous meat on the pig's foot. The cubes of trotters are mixed with finely chopped black trumpets and a touch of mousseline sauce. 

Their encasing, was caul fat or crépine in French, which is the encasing of internal organs of, in this case, pigs. It's commonly used in cooking, since it helps to preserve a shape to a mixture of chopped items, and melts away, keeping moisture and some fat for a sear. It is also beautiful. The chef reached his hands into a bucked of water in which the caul fat had been soaking for a few hours, and spread out a thin web of white ridges and lines. 

Taking large spoonfuls of the chopped pig's foot mixture, I rolled them into the caul fat, and then pressed them into taught balls in order to compact the meat and take out any water. As the caul fat dried, it formed a perfect skin over the meatballs. 

The balls are then refrigerated, and when ready to use, they are boiled for approximately 10 minutes, and then pan seared. The chewiness of the gelatinous pig's foot breaks down during the boil. I love these pig's feet balls because they are the cleanest my face has ever been after eating pig's feet; the juicy flavor and fantastic, sticky consistency remains and is enhanced by the smoky trumpets.