Lomo de Orza

lomo de orza

Lomo de Orza is an old fashioned Spanish method of curing and preserving pork loin in lard (manceta de cerdo), very much like duck confit. Preserving pork in it’s own fat is thought to predate duck confit by several centuries. The lomo is cut into thick slices and is cured in an adobo (marinade), before poaching in lard until tender. The pork confit is placed into a large, round terracotta pot, called an Orza and fully submerged in the fat. The pot is covered with a lid. In “modern” times, a Kilner Jar (or similar) is an acceptable substitute. Note the natural gelatin, from the pork (at the bottom of the jar), which has settled out from the olive oil, on cooling and set.

Before the advent of refrigeration this was one of the best methods of food preservation and foods were kept under fat or oil for many months. The curing and cooking kills bacteria and the absense of air stops bacteria growing, however this does not stop botulism, but botulism is rare, otherwise the human race would probably have died out centuries ago. Food science expert and writer, Harold McGee, suggests that there’s a minimal risk of botulism from this traditional preservation in fat. The salt and vinegar in the marinade and a stoorage temperature below 4ºC, along with an addition of nitrate or nitrite, as per bacon or sausages, does a reasonable job and botulism is killed by heating at 80ºC for more than 10 minutes, if you cook it afterwards. The following recipe is safe for Lomo de Orza when refridgerated for a couple of weeks, to preserve this for a number of months, ideally, it should be canned, like jam, using a pressure cooker.

Traditionally, the making of Lomo de Orza takes place at the time of the Matanza (the end of October), when pigs are slaughtered. In the old days people would keep a pig at home and kill it before winter to provide food and preserves for the coming year. Orzas come in varying sizes (some are quite large) and chorizos can be poached and kept alongside the pork. People would have removed a piece of pork or sausage throughout the year, as required, leaving the meats beneath undisturbed.

lomo de cerdo

Remove the skin on the pork loin. In Spain and America it will probably come without.

crackling

Don’t throw the skin away, score it and rub it with coarse sea salt. Cook it in the oven to make crackling.

Receta de Adobo:

1.5kg pork loin
1 head of garlic (ground to a paste)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (ground)
1 teaspoon black pepper corns (ground)
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon thyme
1 dessertspoon pimentón de la Vera dulce
1 dessertspoon oregano
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
2 bay leaves
1/2 glass dry white wine
2 dessertspoons red wine vinegar
a little cold water to cover

especias

Warm the cumin until you can smell it’s aroma. Grind it with a pinch of salt and the black peppercorns.

ajos

Chop the garlic and then grind it to a paste using a mortar and pestle.

adobo

Mix the adobo ingredients in a jug, but not the water yet.

cortado

Cut slices into the loin that are about 2 fingers wide, but don’t cut it all the way through. Cut down until there’s about half a centimetre joining the meat. This enables you to hang the meat to dry after marination (if you have a cold cellar or larder).

en adobo

Put the pork into an airtight container, saucepan or bag. Pour on the marinade and make sure it goes into all the slices. Top up, to cover, with cold water. Refrigerate for 24 hours.

secando

Remove the pork from the marinade and hang up to dry in a cold larder (or put it on a rack in the fridge) for another 24 hours.

manteca y aceite

As I scoured Spanish recipes on the poaching/confit technique, I realised that most used olive oil or a mix of oil and lard, rather than 100% lard these days. I had intended to make the Lomo de Orza in the most traditional way possible, with lard, but realised that lard becomes as hard as a rock when it goes solid and as one man put it, “If I used lard, I’d need a hammer to get the pork out!” I experimented with a 50/50 mixture of olive oil and lard (above), but even that was relativeley hard, so I changed my mind and decided to confitar the pork in olive oil. That way it’s easy to remove individual pieces of meat.

trozos

Cut the pork all the way through now, so that you have 5 or so slices.

Receta de Confit:

750ml extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic (bruised and peeled)
2 bay leaves
a few sprigs thyme

confitado

Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan along with 2 bay leaves, 3 cloves of garlic and a couple of sprigs of thyme. Keep the temperature low, no more than 85ºC, 2 or 3 on the hob setting (about 1/3rd heat). It should bubble quite gently.

confit

Poach the slices of pork for about 45 minutes, or until cooked through. I used a meat thermometer and cooked the lomo until it reached 85ºC. I noticed, that when it’s cooked the thermometer slides out easily.

poached

If in doubt, cut a slice open – it should be white all the way through.

en orza

Put all the poached slices into an airtight container and strain the warm oil on top to cover. Be careful not to pour the hot oil or lard into a glass jar straight away, or the glass might crack! Agitate the “Orza” gently to remove any air bubbles. Allow to cool and refrigerate, or keep it in a larder/cellar with a temperature between 1º to 4º C.

lomo

Lomo de Orza is commonly served as a tapa, sliced thin and sprinkled with pimentón de la Vera, sea salt and pepper, then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. In the south of Spain the Lomo de Orza is often preserved in manteca colorá. The manteca colorá is scraped from the Orza and spread onto bread, which is topped with the lomo, a little like a preserved pulled pork. I recommend drinking a glass or two of  Manzanilla La Gitana En Rama with the Lomo de Orza and other tapas.