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'O pere e 'o musso
'O pere e 'o musso: Naples' cold boiled pork trotters and veal snout with salt and lemon
"The foot and the snout" is one of Naples' oldest street foods: pork trotters and veal muzzle, boiled for hours, cooled and sliced, then sold from marble-topped carts in Porta Nolana, the Pignasecca and around Piazza Garibaldi. The vendor dresses each paper plate with coarse salt from a hollowed ox horn and a squeeze of lemon. It is eaten cold, at any hour, often as a snack with a beer or a glass of wine, though lemonade works just as well. The texture is soft and gelatinous with a little chew from the skin. Buy the snout already cleaned and scalded from a butcher. Chef's tip: slice everything while it is fridge-cold and firm; at room temperature the gelatin turns slippery and the slices tear.
- Total time
- 210 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 4 pork trotterssplit lengthways by the butcher, about 1.2 kg
- 1 ⅛ lb veal snout (muzzle)cleaned and scalded by the butcher
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp coarse saltfor the water
- 1 tsp coarse sea saltto serve
- 2 lemonscut into wedges
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Check 4 pork trotters and 1 ⅛ lb veal snout (muzzle) for any bristles; singe them over a gas flame or shave them off with a razor, then scrub under cold running water.
15 minStep 2: Put them in a large pan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse and clean the pan; this removes scum and any smell.
15 minStep 3: Return the meat to the pan with 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp black peppercorns and 1 tbsp coarse salt and cover with fresh cold water by 5 cm. Bring to a gentle simmer.
10 minStep 4: Simmer, partly covered, for 2½–3 hours, skimming now and then, until the skin is very soft and the trotter bones pull away easily. Common mistake: rushing this; undercooked trotters are rubbery and impossible to slice.
165 minStep 5: Lift the meat onto a tray, let it cool for 30 minutes, then cover and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. Keep it cold, and eat within 2 days.
Step 6: Pick the trotter meat and skin off the bones in neat pieces and slice the snout thinly with a sharp knife.
15 minStep 7: Pile onto plates, scatter with 1 tsp coarse sea salt and squeeze over 2 lemons just before eating. Serve cold.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 310 kcal
- Protein
- 34 g
- Carbs
- 0 g
- Fat
- 19 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does 'O pere e 'o musso take?
- About 210 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 180 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of bay leaves?
- Leave it out, or a pinch of dried thyme (it's a background flavour).
- What can I use instead of black peppercorns?
- Ground black pepper, a little less than the amount.
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