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Pork In Red Wine
This spicy pork casserole is one of the best-known and most popular dishes from the island of Cyprus.
In recent weeks, on our tour of the Mediterranean, we have been getting to the heart of the matter: what is the one ingredient, the very essence, that is at the very root of Mediterranean culture and cuisine?
What is it that binds all these disparate regions together and allows us to say that they share something in common?
Whenever we think of this question, the answer comes back quite clearly: the olive and its oil.
Many people regard the tasting and appreciation of olive oil to be a superior art to that of appreciating wine, and I have to say I think I am on their side.
The reason for this is that I am primarily a chef, and as such I am interested in what actually goes into the food that I eat and
prepare rather than what accompanies it.
To me, a bottle of wine, be it ever so sublime, is only an adjunct to the main event. It can only affect the meal in terms of a partnership.
If the food is no good in the first place, then what you drink with it can amount to anything from a cheap anaesthetic to dull the pain to an expensive reminder of what might have been – but it can't take the place of it.
I have many friends who will disagree with that position, but that's up to them!
It takes five kilos of olives to produce one kilo of sun-gold olive oil.
The texture of the best oil is thick and velvety. It has a greenish hue, with a predominant fresh taste of the fruit captured within it.
Personally, I consider that Tuscany produces the best olive oil. But, as with wine, it is really all a matter of taste. I like my oil robust and muscular, but there are certainly plenty of other oils out there with a gentler taste and a mellower colour.
As you might expect, such a magical fluid as olive oil has had many other potent properties attributed to it, which may or may not have basis in fact.
The many secular folk remedies held to be within its power include the relief of constipation, earache, sprained ankles, dandruff and hair infestation, while the religious applications include baptisms, extreme unction and rituals to dispel the evil eye – of which more next week.
This spicy pork casserole is one of the best-known and most popular dishes from the island of Cyprus.
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Pork In Red Wine
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INGREDIENTS (serves 4)
2lb/1kg lean pork, such as tenderloin, boned and cubed
2 tbsp coriander seeds, picked clean from stones and crushed
9 fl oz/250ml red wine
1.5 tsp black peppercorns, crushed
2 sticks cinnamon
salt
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
METHOD
1. Mix together the wine and spices. Add the meat and marinate overnight.
2. Remove the meat and brown in hot oil until crisped. Add back the marinade, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the liquid has evaporated and a smooth sauce remains.
3. Serve with fried potatoes or rice and a salad.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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