A good friend of ours in London is the son of a third generation of butchers in Saumurs, France called Girardeau. They win prizes every year on the strength of his fromage de tete (brawn to you and me) and his pigs trotters.
We went to visit his father’s stand while we were in Paris last year. I was pregnant with Tatty and I am sure the godly nature of his utterly delectable food is one of the reasons why she now smiles so much. They were revelatory. Last week Ammo brought us back some of the same pigs trotters from a trip to France. Here’s how I cooked them, courtesy of a recipe from Anissa Helou’s marvellous book, The Fifth Quarter. The tomato sauce is incredibly rich and silky, whose base is a sofrito of Spanish temperament, which means that the onions are cooked for a properly long amount of time until they are sweet and unctuous and golden and the sauce is then thickened with a simple almond picada (see below).
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It is a genius way to turn a tin of plum tomatoes into epic food and easy as pie. You just let the onions (and other bits) stew gently in the olive oil while you chat. I then whizzed it up because, unusually for me, I was feeling cheffy. I served the trotters with sautéed sprout tops, rice and lots of chopped parsley. We were in heaven.
Feeds 6
Ingredients
7-8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, very finely chopped (or 2 medium)
2 sticks celery, very finely chopped
1 medium carrot, very finely chopped
3-4 bay leaves, if possible fresh
A small handful fresh thyme (leaves stripped off the twigs)
½ tsp fennel seeds, ground
A good pinch ground allspice
1 small dried Italian chilli (pepperoncini), crumbled
3 cloves garlic, chopped with inner shoot removed
1 wine glass of red wine
A dash of red wine vinegar
A good pinch brown sugar
12 blanched almonds
A small biscuit ( I used a ginger biscuit but a Digestive is probably preferable)
18 prunes, halved
A large handful of parsley, finely chopped
The secret of this sauce is that the vegetables cook for a long time in the olive oil until they virtually melt so do try to chop them as finely as possible. Don’t worry too much if you are finding it burdensome though as you will whiz them all up at the end, but the more they melt and sweat down in the oil, the better they taste.
Add the oil to a large, heavy-bottomed frying-pan or casserole. Heat over a medium flame until hot, then add the onions. Season very generously with salt and pepper and let the onions get up to a temperature where they are gently fizzing in the oil, not cooking so fast that they colour. Add the celery, carrot, herbs, chilli and spices and keep cooking, stirring occasionally, for about 20-25 minutes, or until the onions really have turned golden. Add the garlic, cook for another few minutes, before adding the tomatoes. Break them up with a wooden spoon, add the wine, vinegar and sugar and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes.
Half an hour before you are ready to eat, pre-heat the oven to 190C. Pound the almonds and biscuits to a fine powder and blitz the tomato sauce with a stick blender until smooth and almost emulsified. It will change colour from a deep red to a rusty one.
Stir in the ground nuts (this is a Spanish picada and is used to thicken sauces) and check for seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, sugar or vinegar should you think it is needed. Pour out the sauce into a baking tray with edges, big enough to hold the trotters (mine was about 26 cm by 15cm. Lay the trotters over the sauce, dot with the prunes and then bake in the oven until heated through, about 20-25 minutes.
Serve the trotters and their sauce over a bed of rice, sprinkle with parsley and savour with the best glass of red wine you can get your hands on.
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