Iberico Pork Cheeks (Carrilladas) | ±300g

Iberico Pork Cheeks - Slow Braise

±300g (carrilladas). Serves 1 to 2. Defrost 8–10 hours. 2 to 2½ hours in the oven.

1. Defrost
Move the pack from freezer to fridge. Leave it in its packaging, on a plate. Allow 8 to 10 hours. Cook within 48 hours of defrosting. Do not refreeze.

2. Trim lightly and dry
Take off any hard sinew on the outside but leave the fat. Pat the cheeks completely dry and season well with salt and pepper.

3. Brown them hard
A heavy pan or small casserole over a high heat with a little olive oil. 2 to 3 minutes a side until deeply golden. Lift them out and set aside.

4. Build the base in the same pot
Onion, carrot and garlic in the rendered fat until soft. A splash of red wine or dry sherry, bubbled down for a couple of minutes.

5. Return the cheeks and add liquid
Stock to come halfway up, no further. Bay leaf and thyme. Bring it to a bare tremble, never a boil.

6. Cook low and long
Cover and cook at 140°C for 2 to 2½ hours. They are ready when a fork twists in the meat with no resistance at all.

7. Reduce and serve
Lift the cheeks out, reduce the liquid until it coats a spoon, then return them to warm through. Rest 15 minutes off the heat. Mash, rice or bread alongside.

Do not rush this cut. Cheeks are pure working muscle and collagen. No amount of heat substitutes for time.

Delivered frozen
Keep frozen at -18°C until needed. Use by the date on the pack.
Defrost in the fridge, in its packaging, on a plate. Allow 8–10 hours. The pack will release liquid as it thaws.
Never defrost at room temperature or in a microwave.
Once defrosted, keep at 0–4°C and cook within 2 days.
Do not refreeze once thawed.