We dissect what London’s much-loved dishes are made from.
No parts of the pig are left behind at Manteca, Shoreditch’s show-stopping nose-to-tail restaurant. ‘We try to minimise waste as creatively as we can,’ says founder Chris Leach. Its pig skin ragù – a burst of savoury goodness buried in shavings of parmesan – was born as a solution to use up the skin. ‘People have said they could be in the hills in Northern Italy when eating it, but that it also works in Shoreditch,’ says Leach. ‘It’s familiar and new at the same time.’ He explains what goes into it.
The crispy skin
‘We boil the skin until it’s really soft, dehydrate it, and then deep-fry it so it triples in size. It’s lighter than pork scratching, and spicy. We season it with chilli and fennel salt.’
The taste
‘The ragù has quite a deep flavour. There’s a sweetness to it, but when the chilli salt hits your tongue, there’s a real fiery moment too – so there’s a lot going on.’
The ragù
‘The sofrito vegetable base is cooked for a long time before adding the pig skin, creating a rich taste with a lot of umami. It will stick your lips together when you eat it!’
The parmesan
‘We keep parmesan rinds and ferment them with koji to make an intense parmesan-and-soy-sauce-like seasoning. We add a little to the ragù, and top with parmesan.’
The texture
‘The crispy pig skin is similar in texture to Quavers or prawn crackers. You can eat it however you want, but it’s fun if you dip the skin directly into the ragù.’
49-51 Curtain Road. £7.