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Survey
The cold shoulder Pork from Tamarack Hollow Farm in South Wheelock, Vermont is arguably the best the Greenmarket has to offer. The intensely dark-red meat, which is certified organic, gets its color and gorgeous marbling from the animals’ access to lots of grass, says owner Mike Betit, who describes his pork as “pretty darn tender.” We look for any excuse to buy it, so imagine our glee to see glass jars filled with rillettes (pronounced “ree-YEHT”), basically pork confit, at his stand. Gabriel Ross, a cook-turned-charcutier who makes the rillettes in Brooklyn, does Betit’s livestock justice. He slowly cooks salt-cured pork shoulder in pork fat, then shreds it (other fatty cuts, like belly or ribs, are often used as well). He then incorporates leaf lard into the pulled pork, adding white and black pepper, nutmeg and allspice. The result is exceptionally creamy, with an irresistible buttery porkiness, and requires little more than to be smeared on a piece of good baguette. Sealed and refrigerated, rillettes should keep about six months; once opened, it’ll last two to three. While Ross is quick to credit Betit for this success—“I just cook the stuff; Mike makes the magic”—we think they’re a match made in pig heaven. Seven ounces for $15 at the Tamarck Hollow Farm stand Wednesdays at the Union Square Greemarket, E 17th St at Broadway; Formaggio Essex, Essex Street Market, 120 Essex St at Delancey St (212-982-8200); and Stinky Bklyn, 261 Smith St between DeGraw and Douglass Sts, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn (718-522-7425)
—Alissa Dicker Schrieber
See previous Critics' pick
