Home › Leg of Pork a La Boisseau › Leg of Pork a La Boisseau To Boil Pig's Pettitoes
Leg of Pork a La Boisseau To Boil Pig's Pettitoes
472. Boil them, the liver, and the heart, in a small quantity of water, very gently; then cut the meat fine and simmer it with a little of the water, and the feet split; thicken with a bit of butter, a little flour, a spoonful of cream, and a little salt and pepper; give it a boil up, pour it over a few sippets of bread, and put the feet on the mince.
A small fricassee of pig's trotters with the liver and heart, finished with a butter-and-flour thickening and served on toast. The original assumes you have bought a suckling pig's feet and pluck together, which is where most of the modern work lies.
- What pettitoes arePettitoes are pig's feet, usually those of a young or suckling pig; in older usage the word could also cover the pig's giblets more broadly, and recipes commonly pair the feet with the liver and heart, as this one does. A butcher will supply trotters split lengthwise on request; liver and heart must usually be ordered separately.
- The timing the recipe hidesTrotters need two to three hours of gentle simmering before the skin and connective tissue are tender, while a small liver is cooked through in fifteen to twenty minutes and turns grainy beyond that; the heart is firmer and wants a little longer. Start the feet alone, add the offal later, and lift it out to chop while the feet finish.
- Keep it at a bare simmer"Very gently" is the instruction that matters. A rolling boil clouds the liquor and toughens the liver; you want a surface that barely trembles, which also gives you a lightly gelatinous broth to build the sauce on.
- A little of the waterUse only enough of the cooking liquor to moisten the mince, perhaps half a cup, and reserve the rest. Because trotters release gelatin, the liquid sets firm when cold and will need warming before it pours.
- Thickening proportions"A bit of butter, a little flour" means a small roux; a tablespoon of each is enough to bind about a cup of liquor, so scale down for the half cup here. A spoonful of cream is probably about a tablespoon.
- SippetsSippets are small triangles or fingers of bread, toasted or fried in butter, laid in the bottom of the dish. Cut and toast them at the last minute so they do not soften before serving.
- SeasoningTrotter liquor is bland, so season the sauce at the end and taste. A grating of nutmeg or a spoonful of the cooking liquor sharpened with lemon juice suits the richness.
- YieldFour split trotters with one liver and heart makes a light dish for two, or a first course for four.