Pork, Zucchini, Cherry, Tomato and Onion Mosaic
Chefs Carme Ruscalleda, Flavors of Spain. Total time: more than 2 hours. Preparation time: 30 minutes. Cooking time: A little over 3 hours. Difficulty: Average. Chef's Note: I always use mineral water for cooking. If your water is too hard, it can alter the cooking process or the taste of the food. That is what happens in many regions of Spain, including Catalonia, where I live. This recipe incorporates Catalan-style fried zucchini, using a very old recipe that dates back to the days when Catalan Jesuit missionaries went to establish missions in Japan. They grew very fond of the tempura batter and brought the technique back to Spain. It uses a very light batter, almost translucent, made by simply blending some flour and ice water to create a relatively liquid batter.
Ingredients
| 4 | pork Feet (Trotters) |
| 2 | shanks |
| 2 | Cheeks |
| 1 | Tongue |
| 2 | White part of leeks |
| 1 | carrot |
| 1 | stalk of celery |
| — | Thyme and parsley |
| — | White and black sausage |
| — | Oil |
| — | Salt and allspice |
| — | Almond powder |
| 1 | egg yolk |
| 1 | zucchini |
| — | Flower petals |
| — | Cherries, quartered and pitted |
| — | Water |
| — | New or young onion |
| — | Grated tomato |
| — | Salt and pepper |
| — | vinegar |
| 2 | onions (sauce) |
| 2 | Tomatoes |
| 2 | small cayenne peppers |
| 500 ml | demi glace |
Instructions
- Thoroughly clean the pork meat and bring to a boil in water with the leek, carrot, celery, thyme and parsley; simmer for 3 hours.
- Drain and bone the meat.
- Line a terrine with plastic wrap; cut the sausage in half and remove the skin;
- Place alternate layers of pork meat and sausage into the terrine; press down well. Refrigerate.
- Shortly before serving, unmould the terrine and trim into a neat shape. Coat with oil, season with a little salt and allspice, sprinkle with almond powder and brush with beaten egg yolk.
- Place into a 190° C (375° F) oven for 10 minutes.
Zucchini:
- Cut the zucchini into "pont-neuf," that is, sticks 1 cm on each side and 6 to 8 cm long;
- combine flour and ice water to make a thin batter (see note above); season with salt and white pepper;
- salt the zucchini; dip in flour and shake off the excess; dip into the batter; fry in hot oil until the batter is crispy.
Flowers: Cook the flowers in the same way, dipping each petal into the batter.
Tomato and Onion: Grate the tomato; chop the onion finely; combine; season with salt, pepper and a drop of vinegar.
Making the sauce:
- In a saucepan, gently sauté 2 onions and 2 cayenne peppers in very little oil until they colour slightly.
- Add the demi-glace and let thicken until a velvety sauce is formed. Check the texture and correct the seasoning if necessary.
Presentation:
- Place the tomato and onion "salsa" and the cherries on the bottom of the plate;
- Stack a few zucchini sticks on the plate, one on top of the other perpendicularly.;
- lay a slice of the terrine on top. Garnish with the flower petals.
- Decorate with some small pools of the sauce and serve the rest on the side.