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Recipe

Black Pork Tenderloin with Açorda and Caramelized Fig

Serves

10

Active Time

3 hours

Origin

ALENTEJO

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Black Pork Tenderloin with Açorda and Caramelized Fig

During tomato season, there are no bad cooks.

— PORTUGUESE SAYING

In this dish, I combined the three foods most present on the Alentejo table: bread, olive oil, and black pork (porco preto). But notice that I emphasize Black Pork. It is not the color of the skin that I distinguish, but rather the quality of the meat, which is incomparable to regular pork. It is precisely this quality that led me to cook it so simply in this recipe. The bread accompanies it in the form of an açorda (a traditional bread-based mash). The fig oil is a gift I leave with you. The pennyroyal (poejos) oil is the link that unites all these foods, bringing to this dish the full flavor of the land where I was born.

THE RECIPE

Ingredients

Serves 10

  1. For the tenderloin:
  2. Black pork tenderloin (lombinhos de porco preto) — 2 kg
  3. Fleur de sel — as needed (q.b.)
  4. Extra virgin olive oil — as needed (q.b.)
  5. For the açorda:
  6. Extra virgin olive oil — 2.5 dl
  7. Alentejo bread (pão alentejano) — 1 kg
  8. Sliced garlic — 150 g
  9. Chopped onion — 350 g
  10. Water — as needed (q.b.)
  11. Pennyroyal (poejos) — as needed (q.b.)
  12. Ground pepper — as needed (q.b.)
  13. Sea salt — as needed (q.b.)
  14. Fresh figs — 1.250 kg
  15. For the garnish:
  16. Figs — 600 g
  17. Extra virgin olive oil — as needed (q.b.)
  18. Fleur de sel — as needed (q.b.)
  19. For the pennyroyal oil:
  20. Pennyroyal (poejos) — 100 g
  21. Extra virgin olive oil — 2 dl
  22. Ground pepper — as needed (q.b.)
  23. Fleur de sel — as needed (q.b.)
  24. For the spicy emulsion:
  25. Dried malagueta peppers — 2 units
  26. Fresh figs — 250 g
  27. Extra virgin olive oil — 2 dl
  28. Aguardente (grape brandy) — as needed (q.b.)

Preparation

For the açorda:

Brown the garlic and onion in extra virgin olive oil. Add the bread, which has been previously soaked (preferably in chicken broth) and coarsely chopped. Pour over a little water and blend the mixture. Season with sea salt and ground pepper. Peel the figs, crush them slightly, and fold them into the açorda, combining everything.

For the tenderloins and garnish:

Grill the figs and the black pork tenderloins, seasoned with fleur de sel and a thread of extra virgin olive oil.

For the emulsion:

Blend the figs with the extra virgin olive oil and the malagueta peppers, flavoring it with a splash of aguardente. Prepare the pennyroyal oil in the same manner as the parsley method.

Presentation

Arrange the açorda in the center of the plate, place the tenderloin slices on top, and finally, a grilled fig. Season with the pennyroyal oil and the spicy fig emulsion.

Olive Oil Suggestion:

For the açorda, the tenderloins, and the garnish, northern Alentejo olive oils seem to be the most appropriate. For the emulsion, and since this is a dish with typically Alentejo characteristics, I suggest an olive oil from Moura.