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Salt-cured pork belly with broad bean ragout

Salt-cured pork belly with broad bean ragoût

Quatre Epices
A French term literally meaning ‘four-spice’, this blend is commonly used in charcuterie such as pâtés, rillettes, sausages and terrines, as well as soups and stews. In its original form, it is a mixture of ground white pepper, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, but it’s not uncommon to see other spices, such as cinnamon and allspice, added. In fact, a traditional mixed spice has the same four ingredients, plus greater amounts of milder and sweeter spices. Quatre épices can therefore be used as a more pungent alternative to mixed spice. Jane Grigson suggests in Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery that it can be added to a mustard and brown sugar glaze for baked ham, or sprinkled into mashed potatoes to be served with sausages or warm terrines.

Salt-cured pork belly with broad bean ragoût

Serves 4
Pork belly
½ cup   sea salt flakes
2 tsp   quatre épices
1 kg   pork belly
1   onion, quartered
5   parsley stalks
2   bay leaves
Broad bean ragoût
2 tbsp   duck fat
5   golden shallots, thinly sliced
2 bulbs   baby fennel, thinly sliced
1 kg   frozen broad beans, blanched and peeled
250 ml (1 cup)   chicken stock
2 tbsp   tarragon leaves


1 Combine salt and quatre épices in a bowl. Place pork belly into a non-reactive container and rub one-third of the spice mixture evenly over surface. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Repeat process for two more days with remaining mixture.
2 Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil over high heat, add bay leaves, parsley stalks and onion, and reduce heat to medium. Add pork belly and simmer for 3 hours or until tender.
3 Meanwhile, heat duck fat in a large frying pan, add shallots and sauté over medium heat for 6 minutes or until softened. Add fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until soft. Add beans and chicken stock and simmer for 3 minutes or until chicken stock is reduced by half, then stir through tarragon and serve immediately.
4 To serve, divide ragoût among plates and top with thick slices of pork.


RECIPE Rodney Dunn PHOTOGRAPHY Ben Dearnley STYLING Elodie Rambaud

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