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Boiled Pigs' Feet
Put the washed pigs' feet in a stewpan with enough water to cover; when it boils take the pan off the fire and strain off the water, and put the feet in a bowl of cold water. Rinse and scald the pan and put back the feet, with 2 quarts of water, a tablespoonful each of salt and vinegar, and a tablespoonful of flour mixed in a little cold water till smooth. Stir this into the liquor, and continue stirring till it boils; then draw the pan to one side and let it simmer slowly four hours. Take the feet up on a hot dish, pour over a white sauce, and serve quickly.
A plain blanc-style braise: the feet are blanched, then simmered in floured, acidulated water that keeps the skin pale and the liquor from clouding. Nothing here needs updating except a few assumptions the original leaves unsaid.
- The hinge: the flour waterThe tablespoon of flour slaked in cold water is not thickening — it is a blanc, which keeps the skin white and stops it from drying out and darkening at the surface. Stir it in off the boil and keep stirring until it comes up, or it will sit in lumps on the bottom and scorch.
- Do not skip the first boilBringing the feet to a boil and discarding that water removes scum, blood and off-flavours. Rinsing the pan matters too: the grey coagulate clings to the sides and will streak the second liquor.
- Buying themSplit trotters are widely sold and are far easier to serve and eat; ask the butcher to split them lengthwise if they are whole. Check the cleft and the skin for stray bristles; a few seconds over a gas flame or a pass with a disposable razor deals with them.
- Four hours is rightThis is a collagen cut and the long, bare simmer is the whole point. The feet are done when the skin is translucent and yielding and the bones slip free under light pressure; at a rolling boil they will burst and shred instead.
- "Draw the pan to one side"On a range this meant moving off the hot plate to a cooler part. On a modern hob, use the lowest setting that keeps an occasional bubble breaking.
- The white sauceA plain béchamel, about a cup for four feet. Loosen it with a few spoonfuls of the cooking liquor, which is richly gelatinous, and add a little of the vinegar or a squeeze of lemon — the fat here is considerable and needs cutting.
- YieldThe recipe does not say how many feet it is for; two quarts of water should cover roughly four to six split feet. Allow about one whole foot, or two halves, per person as a main course.
- The leftover liquorStrained and chilled, it sets to a firm natural jelly. Keep it for brawn, for enriching a stock, or as the setting agent in a terrine rather than pouring it away.