Nigel Slater's pig's cheeks recipe | Spanish food and drink (2024)

Pig's cheeks respond best to slow cooking in a hearty liquid imbued perhaps, with softened onions, a few sweet root vegetables, a bunch of thyme or bay and a generous depth of red wine or perhaps cider or stout. A dinner of braised cheeks takes just 15 minutes to prepare. The bulk of the work is done by the oven, where the plump cushions of meat must sit submerged in rich liquor for a couple of hours or more. Do not disturb.

The dish is one of those where you let the gravy from the pan lap the edges of some sort of creamy starch on your plate: a butter-rich mash of potato, say; or creamed parsnip; a heap of noodles tossed in crème fraîche or some spoonfuls of plain and simple risotto. If you take the boiled potato route keep them floury, then crush them into the cheeky gravy with the tines of your fork.

This week's recipes are perhaps not for the faint-hearted cook. It is not often this column steps quite so firmly into nose-to-tail territory. But I should mention that the butcher will have done all the pig's cheek preparation for you so you have nothing but neat, sweet protein to play with, and the rabbit is easy to handle when bought jointed. Neither should frighten the horses.

Braised pig's cheeks

The accompanying potatoes produce a creamy, almost "wet" mash of a very soft and velvety texture. Serves 4.

Return the cheeks to the pan, tucking them among the vegetables, scatter over the flour, season with salt and black pepper, cook for a minute or two then add the thyme, the bay leaves and the wine. Bring to the boil, cover loosely with foil or baking parchment, then bake for 2½ to 3 hours until tender. Check occasionally to make sure the liquid isn't reducing too far. After an hour or so, it might be prudent to taste and add up to two tbsp of sugar, or some apple or other fruit jelly to the gravy.

Taste and correct the seasoning and serve with the potatoes.

To make the mash, add 1kg of floury potatoes, peeled and cut into medium-sized chunks to boiling, salted water. Cook until they are soft enough to crush. Then drain and mash with 80-100g butter, fluffing the potatoes using a wooden spoon or the flat paddle attachment of a food mixer. Finally, pour in two or three tablespoons of double cream and whip until thoroughly smooth.

Warm rabbit and watercress salad

Let the rabbity, appley pan juices bubble down to half their volume over a moderate heat, stirring in the cider vinegar, honey, mustard, salt and pepper. Squash the garlic cloves into the dressing with a fork.

Wash the spinach and watercress, discarding any tough stalks as you go. Return the rabbit momentarily to the pan, add the washed leaves, toss tenderly and immediately divide the rabbit, leaves and dressing between two plates.

Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk