Raise your fork to different cuts of pork: In fine dining, unusual choices are head and shoulders above the rest

Nation's Restaurant News,  Nov 15, 1999  by Mary Caldwell

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Inexpensive cuts of pork no longer get the cold shoulder in upscale restaurants.

While tenderloin and chops are without a doubt still stars, more and more chefs now consider pork shoulder, shank and butt -- even cheeks -- as worthy contenders for fine-dining fare. As a bonus for the restaurant's bottom line, these underutilized cuts are typically inexpensive, yet the resulting hearty flavors and textures satisfy customers' appetites as well as their desire to receive good value for their dining-out dollars.

"I'm a big proponent of underutilized pork cuts," says executive chef Todd Downs of Sand Creek Country Club in Chesterton, Ind. Downs brines butterflied pork shoulder overnight in a liquid containing Viognier and seasonings to tenderize, flavor and add moisture to the pork. The bone goes into rich pork stock used to make sauce for the finished dish. The next day he browns and slow-roasts the pork with a little of the brine. Thin slices of the meat team up with squash blossom quenelles and chanterelle risotto, garnished with baby green beans, fried artichoke chips and chives.

He also prepares "Aussie Style" pork shank, which is oven-braised in beer, then diced and ring-molded at serving time with black lentils cooked in pork shank braising liquid. He places beer-braised leeks drizzled with roasted carrot vinaigrette and Shiraz-pomegranate reduction around the pork. The plate is decorated with pappadum "boomerangs," chives and lavender blossoms.

"I like the shoulder not only because it's less expensive but also because it's got a great yield," says chef Charles Wiley of The Boulders in Carefree, Ariz. Wiley's "fire and ice" dish begins with pork shoulder braised with onions, peppers and poblano and ancho chilies for about two and a half hours. He serves the pork shredded on flour tortillas with two cheeses and the surprise -- the "ice" -- of fresh papaya. "What we like about slow-cooked meats is that they have more texture than others. They hold up to long cooking, so they really accept the flavors of the braising liquid; they have the opportunity to take on that personality."

At Pasion! in Philadelphia, chef-owner Guillermo Pernot makes carnitas by marinating pork shoulder for 48 hours, then roasting and finally braising it. He shreds the meat and serves it with orange barbecue sauce and cilantro along with boniato pancakes and eggplant escabeche -- pickled eggplant -- to cut the richness of the dish.

Of course, shoulders are nothing new for barbecue aficionados, though barbecue is getting some new twists. Ben Barker of Magnolia Grill in Durham, N.C., incorporates smoked, braised pork shoulder into elegant dishes, especially in tandem with seafood, such as pan-seared diver scallops atop smoked pork barbecue ragout. "I'm a real fan of putting a little bit of animal fat against more delicate seafood," Barker explains. "Something about the deep meat flavor tends to accentuate the flavor of the shellfish."

Pork shanks likewise are getting wider play. Barker, for example, serves pork "osso buco." "We realize that's not what it truly is," he explains, "but by the same token, it identifies the cut for the guest." It is accompanied with Creole baked beans and cider jus, along with Asian mustard greens and corn relish salad. "It's nice and dramatic, big, soothing, full of flavor. It's made from a one-pound section of the hind shank, which is full of gelatin and, frankly, fat. The braising process renders out the fat and just leaves really succulent meat. We like it because, more than anything, it has a really 'long' flavor, and you don't have to put a whole lot else on the plate for people to feel satisfied that they've been given a substantial entree."

Chef David Burke has created a pork signature dish, crackling pork shank with firecracker applesauce. "We cure it like a confit, cooking it in lard for several hours; then we roast it. At the end we crisp it up in the deep fryer. We serve it with poppy seed sauerkraut that has a glaze of mustard and pineapple. It's seasoned with Dijon and salt and served with jalapeno applesauce." The dish is popular at Maloney and Porcelli restaurant in New York as well as on menus of all the Smith and Wollensky restaurants around the country.

Another "underutilized" cut showing up more frequently is pork butt, or Boston butt. Its high fat content always has made it a natural choke for sausage, which is how it's used at The Boulders, in homemade sausage flavored with sage, garlic and maple syrup. That's also how it's used at Alex Patout's Louisiana Restaurant in New Orleans, in boudin, which is also made with another definitely underutilized cut -- pork liver.

But the butt has more diverse potential. At Buster's Beach House in San Diego, chef Gilbert Amaro makes pork luau from Boston butt -- or sometimes another cut -- that's marinated 24 hours in fresh pineapple juice, herbs and spices and then wrapped in banana leaves, weighted with lava rocks and slow-cooked in the oven for seven or eight hours. "It's supertender; it dissolves in your mouth," Amaro says.