Lard pork

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 3 kg pork, well marbled, with bones (preferably shoulder and belly)
• 75 g sea salt (the amount is correct!)
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 bouquet garni (bay leaf, thyme, parsley)
• lard

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Rest period approx. 1 day; Total time approx. 1 day 20 minutes

Pork rillettes

Cut the pork into pieces, render some of the lard in a large roasting pan, and add the meat to the roasting pan. Cover and simmer the meat over low heat for at least 5 hours, stirring occasionally (longer is better than shorter). The meat should not brown! Then remove the meat from the pot (best placed in a sieve), collect the meat juices and fat. Remove all bones from the meat, crush the meat pieces into small pieces (do not cut with a knife!). Mix the meat with the salt, pepper, and bouquet garni and return it to the stove. Let everything simmer gently for another 20 minutes. Fish out the bouquet garni, transfer the pork mixture while it’s still hot into sterilized preserving jars, heat the collected juices and fat, add a little more lard if necessary, and fill the jars with the fat mixture until they are completely covered. Allow to cool and then seal the jars. The rillettes will keep for about two months; they need to be kept cool (but it doesn’t have to be in the refrigerator; a cool pantry will suffice). Using the same recipe, you can make rillettes from almost any other type of meat, such as wild boar or rabbit. Just don’t use beef, as the meat becomes too tough. For goose or duck rillettes, use goose or duck fat instead of pork lard.