Pork

The whole pork shoulder is exactly that, a hog’s entire front haunch. The average shoulder weighs sixteen to twenty pounds and is the shape of a large shoe box. The shoulder is comprised of two different cuts: the “picnic,” which is the lower portion and includes the leg bone, and the “butt,” which is the top of the shoulder, including the blade bone. In the barbecue world, restaurant cooking is different from competition cooking. A restaurant customer expects to enjoy a full plate of barbecue and to enjoy the last bite as much as the first. Judges at competitions, on the other hand, usually taste only a bite or two for each entry they are served. If your meat doesn’t grab the judges’ taste buds and make them whimper with pleasure, the blue ribbon is history. In fact I once heard a master barbecue judge say, “You can’t win with good eatin’ barbecue.” It is very difficult to walk the fine line between good eatin’ and good scorin’ ’Q, but this recipe does it. It takes the base flavors and cooking techniques that Big Bob Gibson always used in his restaurant and amplifies them for competition. We add a seasoning blend to enhance the flavor of the bark—the outside crust of the meat—and we use injection to increase the moisture in the pork and permeate the meat throughout with flavorings. We use the same vinegar-based sauce that Big Bob created in the early 1920s to finish the shoulder. These modifications resulted in six straight first place finishes at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in the pork shoulder category, an added victory at the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue, and a first place at the largest barbecue contest in the world, the American Royal.

This is a great sandwich to make with leftovers (in this case, leftover pork loin). One of the key elements in this sandwich is the choice of greens. Dandelion greens are bitter, but balance the other flavors of prunes and mustard. If the greens are not to your liking, either try buying smaller-leafed dandelion greens (the larger the leaf, the more pronouncedly bitter) or substitute mustard greens or endive.

The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity: pork and endive. The key is to not disturb the pork in the pan. Yes, it will stick. Let it; it’ll unstick later and you’ll have the satisfying crispness you were after. The endive, roasted first with smoked bacon, vinegar, and caraway seeds, serve almost as a condiment.

This recipe is based on a Cuban sandwich traditionally made with roast pork, ham, pickles, Swiss cheese, and mustard. We start with the same main ingredient—the pork. It can be a loin, a ham, even a shoulder, but it should be roasted so that it retains some texture. Then we ratchet things up. In place of the ham, we have coppa, which comes from the neck of the pig and is cured and dried like prosciutto. Standing in for the pickle, we have a pickled pepper relish. The sugar in the recipe cuts through the spiciness and acidity, rounding out the flavors in the relish. Instead of the Swiss cheese in a Cuban, we use fontina. We press the sandwich just as you would a Cuban, and presto! We have what we have nicknamed the Cubano-Italiano.

While there are twelve or thirteen sandwiches in this book that Tom calls “my absolute favorite,” this one truly is Sisha’s. We use the pork shoulder, a very flavorful cut that benefits from slow cooking—so slow, in fact, that we set the oven on the lowest setting and leave the pork cooking overnight, which breaks down the textures, develops the flavors, and renders a lot of the fat. For the amount of meat called for in this recipe, you can get the same great texture and flavor in about four hours. This recipe has its origin in pork barbecue, which is often served with coleslaw. The cabbage in our sandwich—a nod to that side of slaw—is seasoned with olive oil and red wine vinegar. It is assertive and acidic, balancing the richness of the pork, while the jalapeños add a nice kick. Peppers vary in intensity—sometimes two slices are more than plenty while sometimes eight won’t be enough—so be sure to taste-test yours before layering them on.

This sandwich can be made with any meat prepared in the Milanese style (see recipe on page 158)—veal, chicken, or pork. You can use whatever ingredients you want, but the combination below tastes great.

These breaded cutlets are usually made with veal, but I’ve found that it’s an excellent treatment for pork chops. As kids, my siblings and I loved this dish—what kids don’t love fried meat? And it makes for a tasty sandwich the next day (see page 184).

This dish is perfect for entertaining a large group because it serves a crowd and looks spectacular, and the rich, velvety fig sauce will knock your guests’ socks off; it’s so sweet you could even serve it over ice cream. Many European cultures have traditional recipes that pair pork with sweet fruit, usually apples. But apples aren’t so prevalent in Italy, and figs are. Lucky for Italians.

Few things are easier to make for a group than a roasted pork loin, but sometimes it can be a little bland. Gilding the sliced meat with a bit of mellow, garlicky sauce ensures your Sunday roast will have plenty of flavor and adds moistness as well.

Pork is a very popular meat in Italy, but it is eaten more often in the form of sausage or cured. It wasn’t until I started to work as a private chef that I realized what a fixture pork chops are on American tables. This is my Italian take on an American classic, pork chops and applesauce; the onions cook down to a jam-like condiment.

Once primarily available at farmers’ markets and gourmet groceries, fennel is available in most supermarkets these days (depending on where you live it might be labeled anise). Its mild licorice flavor has a special affinity for pork and for chicken. This dish is very light and clean, with no thickeners or cream to mute the flavors.