Rillettes and Rillons of Tours
Pork slowly melted in its own fat, shredded for rillettes or left in golden chunks for rillons. Once potted under fat, it keeps for weeks: the preserve of both the poor and the gourmand.
Pork slowly melted in its own fat, shredded for rillettes or left in golden chunks for rillons. Once potted under fat, it keeps for weeks: the preserve of both the poor and the gourmand.
Ah, the rillettes of Tours! There's the pork jam of my childhood, which the housewives of Touraine let melt all day at the hearth. We spread it on brown bread, and I had my poor Félix de Vandenesse eat it in *Le Lys de la vallée*, for no man born on the banks of the Loire could forget it. Believe me: a pot under its fat is better than an annuity; it lasts all winter and consoles for many debts.
- •Pork shoulder and belly — equal parts (meat and fat)
- •Lard — as needed (cooking and sealing)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning and preservation)
- •Pepper, bay leaf, thyme — a pinch (flavor)
Rillettes and Rillons of Tours
Pork slowly melted in its own fat, shredded for rillettes or left in golden chunks for rillons. Once potted under fat, it keeps for weeks: the preserve of both the poor and the gourmand.
Why this dish? Balzac was born in Tours, in Touraine, the homeland of rillettes and rillons. He praised them in *Le Lys dans la vallée*, where young Félix savors this "brown pork jam" of his Touraine childhood.
Ah, the rillettes of Tours! There's the pork jam of my childhood, which the housewives of Touraine let melt all day at the hearth. We spread it on brown bread, and I had my poor Félix de Vandenesse eat it in *Le Lys de la vallée*, for no man born on the banks of the Loire could forget it. Believe me: a pot under its fat is better than an annuity; it lasts all winter and consoles for many debts.
Ingredients (period version)
- Pork shoulder and belly — equal parts (meat and fat)
- Lard — as needed (cooking and sealing)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning and preservation)
- Pepper, bay leaf, thyme — a pinch (flavor)
Ingredients
- Pork shoulder — 600 g (meat)
- Fresh pork belly — 400 g (melting fat)
- Lard — 150 g (cooking and sealing)
- Salt — 16 g (seasoning)
- Pepper, 2 bay leaves, 1 sprig thyme — to taste (flavor)
Method
- Cut the meat into large cubes, season with salt and pepper.
- Melt the lard in a casserole, add meat and aromatics.
- Cook very gently, covered, for 4 hours, stirring occasionally (the meat should not fry but confit).
- For rillons: remove the pieces as soon as they are golden and tender. For rillettes: continue cooking, then shred the meat with a fork, mixing it with its fat.
- Pot the mixture, cover with a layer of melted fat to seal. Let set in a cool place.
How it was made : In Touraine, the pig was butchered in winter and everything was transformed: slow cooking in fat, in the absence of refrigeration, allowed the meat to be preserved for months under a layer of lard that isolated it from the air.
The contemporary twist : Serve the rillettes in a small stoneware pot with grilled country bread and a few cornichons: a "Touraine apéro" that would have delighted the novelist.
Sources : Honoré de Balzac, Le Lys dans la vallée (1836)
Honoré de Balzac · Charactorium