This is a strange recipe.
It comes from the slightly strange land of Portugal, consists of pickling then frying pork and comes out looking very unappealing.
Despite this, it tastes pretty lovely.
But maybe that's because I love anything pickled!
Carne Vinha d'Alhos
(Pickled Portuguese Pork w Wine & Garlic)
Recipe from this site. Serves 6-8.
Ingredients:
3kg boned pork shoulder/neck with some fat;
3 cups (750ml) dry white wine
2 cups (500ml) brown vinegar
1 cup (250ml) cider vinegar
8-10 garlic cloves, crushed
2 red chillies, sliced
4 bay leaves
½ tsp salt;
½ tsp black pepper;
1 slice day old bread, cut in 4
(sage & thyme optional)
Method:
1. Layer pork in a large ceramic container; add the wine, vinegar, bay leaves, chillies, salt and pepper.
2. Cover and marinate for at least 3 days, stirring daily.
3. When ready to cook the pork, transfer to large heavy pot (not iron), add the marinade, cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes; remove pork..
4. Whilst pork is cooking, quickly moisten the bread slices by touching each side to the surface of the hot marinade and drain.
5. Raise the heat under the marinade so that it bubbles gently, and boil uncovered to reduce while you proceed with the recipe.
6. In a heavy frypan, brown pork lightly on both sides in olive oil and butter over moderately high heat. Remove to heated plate and keep warm.
7. Quickly brown bread on both sides in the pan drippings, adding more olive oil and butter as needed.
8. To serve, arrange bread on a platter, top with overlapping pork, then spoon some of the reduced marinade on top.
9. Pour remaining marinade into sauce boat and pass separately. Decorate with sliced orange slices.
Carne de vinha d'alhos is wonderful, although I don´t eat it as often as I'd like (it is not very healthy). In the Azores, the recipe is slightly different.
ReplyDeleteIt is always great to see portuguese recepies in foreign blogs. By the way, love your blog.
M.A.Leal - obrigada! i hope to have some more portuguese recipes up soon after my short visit to porto!
ReplyDeleteDo you perhaps have an alternative for wine in the marinade without altering the meat's final taste? We want to cook rabitt (Coelho a cacador - hunter's rabitt)but our guest is moslem and we don't want to use wine (my wife uses 250ml white wine and 250ml red wine). I think if we don't use wine it won't taste the same as mamma's recipe!! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteunfortunately i don't think it would work without the wine. it would change the whole flavour.
Deletethe only possible substitute i could think of would be verjuice.
My Grandmother, who was from Maderia Island, made this and called it something else. I don't know the correct way to spell it, but in English is sounds like "con vigga daj" and to our family it's known as Christmas Pork. Grandma grew up very poor and they didn't have meat very often. This recipe was saved for Christmas morning breakfast. My dad still makes it every year but the recipe is slightly different. Instead of wine we use water, vinegar, oil, crushed red pepper, garlic, oregano, black pepper and possibly bay. It marinates in a jar for a week then fried very slowly, taking at least 1 1/2 hours to cook. Then we take crusty bread, slice it and fry it in the remaining marinade. I love my pork crispy and the bread soggy.
ReplyDeleteThat's the same recipe I have Lisa! no wine and now I put it all in the crock pot while I"m at work with potatoes and carrots in a bit of the marinade, so ono!! never heard of the bread but will try it next time!! thanks for the great ideas! oh and do you ever make soapa??
Deleterachel