Arrosto Morto

I looked online for images of the dead roast, arrosto morto, that famous Tuscan herb-encrusted and garlic-infused, slow-roasted pork shoulder. I really need to get into the habit of photographing the results of the cooking revisions that I'm making due to the Michael Pollan "natural history of (food) transformation" book Cooked. The photos I found look nothing like my end result which screamed "Taste me, I am perfect!"

I've used a lot of recipes, over the years, for the arrosto. Currently, Olives and Oranges by Sara Jenkins and Mindy Fox is in the batting box - although I have annotated the page until I could probably call the recipe my own.

This method of roast pork shoulder does not produce the pulled-pork which is all the rage today. The oven temperature (250F) is low enough, but the time is wrong. Or vice versa. The time is long enough (five hours) but on a higher heat.

I roast in an Emile Henry (clay over who knows what) casserole that can also be used effectively on the electric cooktop. Up there and with the lid on, pulled pork would have been the result. I'll bet it would have also been delicious. Making a note for the future.

I made several changes to my cooking method for this delicious pork dish and, yes, the difference in the results was remarkable. Adhering to the methods that I learned in Cooked, I salted the pork the night before. Really salted. Copious amounts. And no. The finished product was not too salty. Many thanks to Pollan's own cooking instructor, Samin Nosrat.

Also, a la Pollan's premise that all cooking with liquid (braising) begins with some sort of dice, according to the nationality of the dish, of pertinent vegetables and/or herbs, I sat the roast on a slightly sauteed (olive oil) mixture of onion, garlic, sage, thyme, and rosemary. This was in addition to infusing the meat itself with a fresh supply of the herbs listed. The recipe calls for slitting the meat, but I simply inserted the various herbs and the garlic into the fatty portions of the pork.

Then, working against the suggestions of the cookbook: after I bound and tied my roast, I removed my completed mirepoix. I browned the whole piece lightly, stovetop, in the cooking pot. This step, according to Nosrat, imparts yet another layer of flavor to the dish.  I added a splash of the white wine allotment to gently loosen anything stuck to the bottom of the casserole dish - way ahead of the suggestion in the recipe to add the wine altogether after two hours. I then re-added the sauteed bed of succulent goodies and placed the roast on top.

The recipe calls for a (to me) mystery ingredient called wild fennel pollen which should be added to the fresh herbs, noted below, and used to impart the true flavor of Tuscany into the dish. I've never had this herb. Remind me to look online later and see who may be shipping it. That little touch might just become the piece de resistance of the dish as I am now making it. Who knows? (Note: Later. California organic fennel pollen on the way via Amazon. And yes, the shipper called the herb "that secret ingredient" and a superb "dish finisher.")

To continue, and without said herb,  the cookbook directions call only for simply cutting slits in the meat, adding one's herbs and garlic, salting and peppering, and laying the roast (after tying) flat onto the uncovered cooking vessel.

Two hours in, I added the remainder of the dry wine, brushed the arrosto with more olive oil, and closed the oven door. At this point I started basting every half hour, as per Jenkins and Fox, for three more hours. (Red wine would have resulted in a wilder, gamier flavor. I haven't tried the red on the palate of the six-year-olds.)

It was the best arrosto morto ever. I added, uninvited by any cookbook, red potatoes and carrots to the mixture at about three hours in. The vegetables were not cooked to death (morto). The carrots retained a touch of crispness while the potatoes were perfectly done but not mushy.

The family said "mmm, good pork roast" and were not much impressed with the incredible flavor changes. Or the meat that sliced without any hint of the overdone mushiness of the pulled variety. Or the slices, fork tender on the plates. Then again, it is my own experiment, not theirs. They are interested in having dinner, after all. Note here that both Jack and Tom asked for seconds on a roast infused with "strange" flavors and cooked with wine! That is victory enough for me!