Enchaud Périgourdin

Ingredients

• 1.75 kg boneless pork loin, fat cap on, heritage breed with good intramuscular fat preferred; fat cap scored in a diamond pattern, left attached
• 35 g coarse salt, 20 g per kg of meat
• 8–10 cloves garlic, cut into thick slivers
• 1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• For the quatre-épices rub
• ½ tsp white pepper, ground
• ¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
• ¼ tsp ground clove
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• 50 ml water, added to the cocotte at the start
• To serve
• cornichons
• Dijon mustard
• frisée, dressed with walnut oil vinaigrette

Method

1. 1
   Score the fat cap of the pork loin in a diamond pattern, leaving it firmly attached to the meat. With a sharp knife, make deep incisions along the length and across the grain of the loin at regular intervals. Insert a thick sliver of garlic into each incision, pressing it flush with the surface. The garlic must be distributed evenly so that each slice of the finished enchaud carries it.
2. 2
   Combine the coarse salt, black pepper, and the quatre-épices (white pepper, nutmeg, clove, ginger). Rub the seasoning over the entire surface of the loin, including the scored fat. Tie the loin tightly with butcher's string at regular intervals to hold a firm, even cylindrical shape. The string should compress the meat visibly.
3. 3
   Heat the oven to 140°C. Place the tied loin fat-side up in a cast-iron cocotte. Add 50 ml of water to the base of the pot. Set the cocotte, uncovered, in the oven. Baste the meat every 30 minutes with the accumulating fat and juices. This is where the dish lives or dies: the temperature must remain at 140°C throughout — any higher and the exterior dries and firms before the connective tissue has rendered, producing a lean, disappointing result. Roast for 2.5 to 3 hours, until an internal temperature of 72°C is reached and the meat yields with no resistance when probed.
4. 4
   Remove the cocotte from the oven. Do not slice the meat. Allow the loin to cool in its cooking fat and juices inside the cocotte, turning it once as it cools so that fat coats all sides. When fully cooled, the rendered fat will have set to a white, clean jelly around the meat.
5. 5
   Remove the loin from its set fat, cut away the string, and slice into rounds of approximately 1 cm. The interior should be pink, the garlic slivers visible and fully softened within the flesh, the thin rim of fat intact on each slice. Bring the sliced enchaud to room temperature for 1 hour before serving.
6. 6
   Arrange the slices on a plate. Serve at room temperature with cornichons, Dijon mustard, and frisée dressed with a walnut oil vinaigrette. The flavour is dense and clean, with the garlic fully integrated into the meat.