Pork stock and a snack for the Wife.

I have been keen to post the photo above. It was taken, on 35mm, by my late father, in 1967 while we were at Puck Fair in Killorglin, Co. Kerry. The picture of a ’67 food truck gives a great insight into Irish life at the time. The typography tells me that Fish and Chips was the lead offer. Crubeens were a staple and Hamburgers were something pretty exotic. I had never cooked crubeens. Oh, they are pigs feet, for those of you not in the know. So, when Ety from Ethical Pork offered me a few, I knew I could redress the situation and have an excuse to show a wonderful bit of Irish social history from almost 50 years ago.

Not the prettiest thing I have ever cooked. Still, worth showing you.

The first thing to do with the crubeens is to burn off the excess hair. Given what  I was doing, I really don’t see the need to do this but, it was fun and the picture is pretty attractive, in a gruesome sort of way.

It’s a long way from crème brûlée – my versatile kitchen blowtorch.

Place the trotters in a pot of water and bring them to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. This will bring impurities and a foamy scum to the surface.

Not so attractive. Trust me, it gets better from here.

Pour off the water and scum. Clean the pot and add the trotters, water, three carrots, two onions, three stalks of celery, 12 or so peppercorns and a bouquet garni.

At last, an attractive looking photograph.

Simmer this for three hours. Remove the trotters. Let them cool for about an hour.

Side note on crubeens: Back in the day, they would have been served at this stage of the process. They would have been eaten greedily with a lot of slavering and slopping. 

Now roll up your sleeves and take the crubeens apart. Remove all the meat and put it in a bowl.

Not a lot of meat on the three crubeens. Enough for a sandwich, perhaps?

Separate the fat from what remains and discard.

This is a really, really messy job. Man up and get stuck in.

Put all the bones (there will be lots of them), skin and gelatinous materials back into the pot with the cooking stock. Bring this to a gentle simmer, with the lid on, for a couple of hours. Then remove the lid and take out all the vegetables and pork bits.

Like I said. This is a messy job. Trust me, it’s worth it.

Simmer again, to reduce the remaining stock by about three-quarters. Let it cool somewhat. It will start to turn to a very thick, extremely flavoursome stock. Before it sets, pour it through a muslin (Muslin, not Muslim – It’s pork remember).

The muslin will remove any last bits of grittiness and impurities.

Pour the stock into ice-cube trays.

The ice-cube trick give great flexibility for adding to soups, stews, chillis or whatever.

I got an even 42. Into the freezer with them!

These will add punch to porky things over the coming months.

The stock cubes are a long way from 1967 crubeens. But, they are all about big pork flavour. That much they have in common.

Oh, one last thing. While I was at work the next day, the Wife made a sandwich with the meat. I never got to taste it. It’s 48 years since we were in Puck Fair that day. To date, I haven’t tasted crubeens. A treat in store….