The Joy of Pork

“He who cannot eat horsemeat need not do so. Let him eat pork.”
Nikita Khrushchev

Have you ever been to a supper club?

Busy in the kitchen

Have you ever tried to explain the idea to those that haven’t?

Anything from a serial killer looking for victims through to a swingers party was suggested.

But clearly I’m still here and, while there is fantastic food to write about, it gets no more salacious than that.

So what was it all about?

The idea is a simple one and one.  Eat top-notch grub, in the company of others who like top-notch grub; but instead of doing so at a restaurant, you eat at the chef’s home.  On this occasion, that was at the home of Iain Devine A.K.A. The Drunken Butcher, all organised by the lovely folks over at DineInOut. You pay your deposit then pay an anonymous contribution in an envelope after the meal.

Deposit paid off went myself and B, she having a few more butterflies than myself.  However we went armed with a couple of bottles of d’Arenburg Money Spider Roussane, so if the worst came to the worst we’d meet our maker in good spirit.

Turns out there was nothing to be worried about. Greeted with a cheery cherry and prosecco cocktail and introductions done we awaited the food.  No prizes for anyone who may have figured out that the evening was to be entirely piggy based. What else could you expect from a man who has a tattoo of the various cuts of pork on his leg.

To tickle our fancy we were treated to some Chicharrons and some Chilli & Soy Pork Cheeks.  Chicharrons, in case you don’t know are deep-fried pork rinds, think massive quavers meets pork scratchings.  Great contrast to the sticky, meaty pork cheeks.

Why do Quavers only come in cheese flavour?

I digress.  Back to the starter of Torchon of Pig’s Head with Cherry Sauce and Mustard.  The Torchon is created by cooking up the pig’s head and shredding the usable bits of meat.  These were then formed into rounds and coated in bread crumbs and cooked again.  The sweet cherry, salty pork and hot mustard all combined deliciously.

Menu

Torchon

Dive In

Main Course Plated

Main course was a roast T-bone of pork with some additional fillet and, because you can’t have a pork night without it, CRACKLING.  This was served with belly roast potatoes and cauliflower cheese.  Iain confessed that the cauli was a nod in the general direction of the health conscious, however, so as not to stray too far from the porcine path, there had been the addition of some smoked bacon earlier in the day.  Smiles all round.  The main course was brilliant.  This was not restaurant fussiness and I mean that in a good way. Big ol’ roasties, big slices of meat. On a board. For everyone to dig into. Loved it.

After a little break out came the soupy dessert.  Yup, you read that right.  At this point the pork had been lain to rest.  Instead it was a wonderful spiced plum and raisin soup with a big ball of cinnamon ice cream.  From various corners of the room came that silence that only comes when there is food around.  Broken only, but on more than one occasion, by the exclamation “It’s like Christmas in a bowl”

Done?

Nope.

Iain was not done feeding us.  Along came some homemade oreos with a Jim Beam milkshake.  A great end to my own first supper club experience.

So the Joy of Pork has gone but follow DineInOut on twitter and you’ll learn about the next events – “Flock & Roll”, “Around the World in 8-ish Steaks”

Thanks again to Iain and his wife for inviting us into their home.  Oh and Iain – that day on the smoker…… let’s sort it.