Even if it is pork, Maiale al latte (Pork cooked in Milk) is a light, delicate and sweet tasting dish, a classic recipe from the Veneto region of Italy.
This is one of the easiest and most delicious recipes for cooking a lump of pork, either the loin or the neck. I prefer it not to be a fatty piece of meat and I trim most of the fat off.
Many like to prepare a pork dish for Christmas. Pork braised in milk could make a pleasant change!
About the Recipe
Maiale al latte – pork gently braised in milk until meltingly tender – is one of those old farmhouse dishes that several Italian regions claim as their own. Tuscan cooks link it to their classic arista roasts, in Emilia-Romagna it’s made with the local abundance of milk and Parmigiano, in Friuli it appears as purcit tal lat, and there are even Neapolitan and Campanian versions. Over time it has become a pan-Italian comfort dish: simple pork, plenty of milk, a few herbs, and a long, slow simmer on the stove.
I first discovered this recipe in Ada Boni’s books. Some classify maiale/al latte as a traditional dish of Emilia-Romagna (the land of Parmigiano Reggiano), and in Marcella Hazan’s books she describes the pork-in-milk roast as Bolognese in origin.
I always use full cream milk. The milk separates into flavourful and creamy curds that can be gently strained out and served on the side or under the succulent, cooked meat that has been sliced. The meat juices and whey are the fragrant sauce.
Fresh sage, garlic and lemon rind are the flavours. I also like to use quite a bit of black pepper.
I used a boneless loin of pork.
RECIPE FOR MAIALE AL LATTE
Ingredients for 1k.500g:
extra virgin olive oil and butter to seal the meat and brown
1 small head of garlic, cloves peeled and halved
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh sage, about 10 large leaves
full cream milk, a sufficient amount to cover up to three quarters of the meat.
lemon peel from one large lemon cut into thin, wide strips – use a potato peeler.
Processes
Trim the fat off the meat, rub salt and pepper all over the pork and leave for about 10 mins.
Use a heavy-bottomed pot that is large enough to hold pork and milk that will almost cover the pork.
Brown the pork on all sides in some oil and butter. Use medium-high heat. Add pork and cook until well browned on all sides.
Add garlic and sage and milk. Bring to a boil, add lemon zest, reduce heat to medium-low.
Cover and gently simmer the meat. Resist stirring. Turn over the meat a couple of times and cook for about 3 hours. The milk will have reduced and golden curds would have formed. It will smell like caramel.
Transfer meat to a cutting board and let it rest while you lift off the curds gently and separate them from the liquid. The garlic will have dissolved into the sauce. Remove the lemon peel and the sage leaves. Skim off any fat (I did not need to do this as my meat was pretty lean).
Slice the meat. Serve on a bed of curds and the caramel meat juices poured on top.
Present with asparagus for a taste of summer.
