Maiale al Latte, Pork Cooked in Milk

Introduction:

I first encountered a recipe for pork braised in milk when I purchased a copy of Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking back in 1992. Turning to the section on pork, there it was. The first recipe in the section. I recall being somewhat disgusted by the thought of braising meat in milk. So, I never made it. After all, other than pork and milk, the ingredients were merely butter and vegetable oil for browning the pork, and salt and pepper for seasoning. How could that be good? By the 1990s, industrial pork production was filling grocery stores with flavorless, lean pork. And this dish is all about the pork.

I encountered the idea again in the April of 2008 issue of Gourmet Magazine. At least there were more flavors being introduced, including juniper berries, rosemary, sage, bay leaves, and garlic, but still I didn't go for it.

So, when I saw a recent post on Tasting Table featuring a recipe, I thought I'd give it a try. After all, I have access to organic heritage breed pork here in Seattle. Good pork. This recipe is also simple on the herbs - using only sage, bay leaves, garlic, and lemon zest.

But what recipe to follow?

I dug out my copy of Hazan's book, and the April 2008 issue of Gourmet to get to Ursula Ferrigno's version. Then, a search on-line for other versions. I collected ten recipes, scaled them all to 2.5 pounds, and converted them to equivalent units.

The recipes are similar in that they all use a minimum of ingredients. The Gourmet recipe has the most additional flavors. Hazan's the least. All the others are somewhere in between. Two techniques are used: Stove top cooking and oven braising. The stove top versions require more messing around with stirring than the oven versions. All the recipes have all the milk added at the beginning, except Hazan's, where part is put in, it gets evaporated, more is added, it gets evaporated, etc. Funny how the simplest recipe in terms of ingredients is also the most labor intensive.

So, which to make? I couldn't decide. I mean, I have no point of reference on what this is supposed to taste like. So, I decided to go with testing two versions: Hazan's and Gourmet's. The two most distinctive versions.

Materials and Methods:

I obtained two pork shoulder roasts, each a bit over 2.5 pounds.

I worked from a scaled down in size version of Ferrigno's oven-based recipe, and followed Hazan's as written in her stove top version. The difference between the two recipes, other than cooking method? This:

(Recipes I researched are linked below - Hazan's wordy recipe is presented)

Discussion:

Both versions start with browning all over.

The stove top version is fussy to make - the several additions of milk, the need for active monitoring and stirring makes the process a fair amount of effort. The oven version - set it and forget it (except for several flips of the meat). The caramelization of the milk was more complete with Hazan's version. And the curds were smaller from all the manipulation. I obtained about a half cup of sauce from Hazan's method when done and a bit less than a cup from Ferrigno's version. This is disconcerting because Ferrigno's recipe states that after straining the sauce, reduce it to two cups. I'd have to add water or milk to bring it to this level, and I didn't want to do that.

In process, Hazan's then Ferrigno's:

After removing the pork from both dishes, and straining the sauce (and setting them all aside), I added about a half cup of water to each pan and worked all the caramelized fond off the bottoms and sides of the pans, then added that now darkly colored water to the set aside sauces.

Hazan's first, then Ferrigno's:

The extra darkness on Hazan's happens if you let it go too long between manipulations. It's not burned, but almost...

So, did they taste good? Did they taste distinct from one another? Well, I was somewhat disappointed by the flavor. The two meat samples were indistinguishable and both tasted of, well, pork. Ferrigno's sauce had the flavors of the added herbs, but it didn't effect the flavor of the pork. So, a lot of time and effort for braised pork of no flavor beyond just pork. I won't make this dish again. There are way too many interesting and delicious things to make with pork shoulder.

 

References:

Marcella Hazan, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, Page 417, 1992
Ursula Ferrigno, Gourmet Magazine, Page 137, April 2008, link
Emiko, Food52, link 
Samin Nosrat, Chio Samin, link
O Tama Carey, SBS, link
Ginny Grant, Cuisine, link
Steve, oui, chef, link
Mary Ann Esposito, Chio Italia - Bringing Italy Home, Saint Martin's Press, 2001, link 
Editors, Tasting Table Test Kitchen, link 
Ms I-Hua, msihua.com, link

Marcella Hazan's Recipe:

Pork Loin Braised in Milk, Bolognese Style

Servings for 6

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/2 pounds pork rib roast (see note below)
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
2 1/2 cups, or more, whole milk

Note: (edited)

Recipe calls for bone on rib roast. Remove the loin from the bones so it can be browned more thoroughly. Cook the loin along with the bones added to the pot.

Another cut, Boston butt (pork shoulder) can be used.

Do not cut away any of the fat.

Directions:

1. Choose a heavy-bottomed pot that can later snugly accommodate the pork, put in the butter and oil, and turn the heat to medium high. When the butter foam subsides, put in the meat, the side with the fat facing down at first. As it browns, turn it, continuing to turn the meat every few moments to brown it evenly all around. If you should find the butter becoming very dark, lower the heat.

2. Add salt, pepper, and 1 cup of milk. Add the milk slowly lest it boil over. Allow the milk to come to a simmer for 20 or 30 seconds, turn the heat down to minimum, and cover the pot with the lid on slightly ajar.

3. Cook at a very lazy simmer for approximately 1 hour, turning the meat from time to time, until the milk has thickened, through evaporation, into a but-brown sauce. (The exact time it will take depends largely on the heat of your burner and the thickness of your pot.) When the milk reaches this stage, and not before, add 1 more cup of milk, let it simmer for ten minutes, then cover the pot, putting the lid on tightly. Check and turn the pork from time to time.

4. After 30 minutes, set the lid slightly ajar. Continue to cook at minimum heat, and when you see there is no more liquid milk in the pot, add the other 1/2 cup of milk. Continue cooking until the meat feels tender when prodded with a fork and all the milk has coagulated into small nut-brown clusters. Altogether it will take between 2 1/2 to 3 hours. If before the meat is fully cooked, you find the liquid in the pot has evaporated, add another 1/2 cup of milk, repeating the step if it should become necessary.

5. When the pork has become tender and all the milk in the pot has thickened into dark clusters, transfer the meat to a cutting board. Let it settle for a few minutes, then cut into slices about 3/8 inch thick or slightly less, and arrange them on a warm serving platter.

6. Tip the pot and spoon off most of the fat - there may be as much as a cup of it - being careful to leave behind all the coagulated milk clusters. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of water, and boil away the water over high heat while using a wooden spoon to scrape loose cooking residues from the bottom and sides of the pot. Spoon all the pot juice over the pork and serve immediately.

R.I.P

So here's April 2008. I have to say, re-reading the recipes in these old issues of Gourmet has been interesting. How hard they worked to impose a standard on how to write directions. And it was so devoid of any voice of any writer. Hard to say if this is good or bad. Just, "different."

Nota bene: One of the items that some of the recipes included, that neither of mine did, was lemon zest. I think that would be a welcome addition, and perchance, make this worth making.