Recipe: Lacquered rack of pork and red onion confit

Reading Time: 3 minutes

This dish is a tribute to the crossroads of cultures prevailing in our islands. In this dish, the basics of French cuisine are associated with Asian flavours and spices of the Indian subcontinent. A rather technical recipe, but one rich in taste and texture.

Ingredients (serves 4)

The meat:

• 1 rack of wild pig or suckling pig, 2kg
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 100ml soy sauce
• 20g honey
• Peanut oil: as required
• salt/pepper

1. Open out the rack of pork, trim it, and cut the bone to uniform height and tie it. Season it with salt and pepper.

2. On the hob or griddle brown all the sides and then bake at 160˚C for about 40 minutes. Remove it from the plate and let it rest.

3. Mix the ketchup, honey and soy sauce into a preparation which will be used to lacquer the rack of pork.

The pork juice:

• 20g honey
• 1 lime
• 3 black peppercorns
• 4g ginger
• 100ml balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 Tonka bean
• 1 cinnamon stick

1. Brown the bones and trimmings in the oven.

2. Prepare a small mirepoix of vegetables (onion, garlic, carrot) and add it to the bones. caramelise everything together. Once a good good colour has been achieved, deglaze the plate with white wine. Put everything into a bowl and moisten it on the top with water. Cook for about 3 hours, skimming well.

3. Pass the stock through a cheesecloth sieve and reduce it to three-quarters.

4. Caramelise a little honey in a saucepan. Add 1 stick of cinnamon, 3 black peppercorns, half a chopped Tonka bean, 4g of chopped ginger, the zest of 1 lime and its juice, and 100ml of balsamic vinegar. Add the pork juice and cook it again for 30 minutes until it reaches a consistency which will coat the meat.

5. Strain it and save it.

The garnish:

The potates with cinnamon:

• 500g large potatoes
• 2 sticks of cinnamon
• 1 litre peanut oil
• 50g butter
• Sea salt: to taste

1. Wash the potatoes, cut them into thick wedges with skin still on, blanch them in an oil bath at 150˚C for the first cooking. Drain and store them.

2. Place the butter into a pan to heat. Add the potatoes with the cinnamon sticks and bring them to a nice golden colour. Drain them on paper towels and season them with sea salt.

The red onion confit:

• 300g red onions
• 20g butter
• 1/4 litre red wine
• 10ml crème de cassis
• Thyme: as required
• 2g black cracked pepper
• Salt/pepper

1. Peel the onions finely. Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the onions and lightly salt them. Bring them to a golden colour and then deglaze them with crème de cassis and red wine. Add the thyme and pepper. Cover and cook until completely evaporated. take them out and set them aside.

Finishing and presentation

• Pink peppercorm: as required
• Aniseed: as required

Warm the rack of pork in the oven for about 5 minutes. using a brush, coat it several times and finish it off under the grill so that it glistens.

Add some pink berries roses and star anise. The rack can be cut in front of the guests or arranged earlier on a plate. Put the onion confit in a saucepan along with the apples.

Present the sauce separately.

Sommeliers’ suggested wine

Strong red wine:

• Swartland, Kloof Street Rouge, Mullineux Family, 2009 South Africa
• Côtes-du-Rhône Brézème, Charles Helfenbein, 2009 France