Maiale al Latte (Milk-Braised Pork)

The milk curds may look a little off-putting, but how do they work with the meat?

Milk Braised Pork sounds kinda odd, but is it something genius?

Time: 3 hrs 20 minutes

Difficulty: 1/5

Ingredient Availability: 5/5

Braising anything in milk probably sounds pretty weird to you. It sounded weird to me, too. The first time I made this recipe, it turned out pretty good, but I wasn’t doing analyses at that time. So, I decided to give it another go, taking note of the little details this time. As for why I decided to make it the first time, it was probably just because it was something weird and new.

Key Ingredients and Omissions:

I added the thyme along with the sage

Nothing from this recipe was left out. The pork I used was left over from another recipe. I wasn’t able to find chiles de árbol, but I used the suggested substitution of crushed red pepper flakes. I also added some thyme along with the sage.

Tools:

• Dutch oven

• Sharp knife

Cooking Review:

Prep: 6 minutes

2 nights before I made this, salted the pork and put it back into the refrigerator. On the day I cooked this, I cut the garlic in half, cut off some strips of lemon peel, and heated my dutch oven over medium high heat before adding the olive oil. The recipe says to cut the pork into two pieces and have it sit out for about an hour before cooking. I didn’t cut mine in half, as my piece of pork wasn’t as big as the recipe called for and I just didn’t have the time to let it sit out for that long.

Browning Garlic and Pork: 12 minutes

Once the oil was hot, I added the garlic cut side down to brown for about a minute before moving to a plate. The Pork was then added to the dutch oven to brown on each side. I let each side brown for 2-3 minutes. At this point, the garlic was added back to the dutch oven along with the milk, sage, thyme, pepper flakes, and lemon peel.

Baking: 2 hours 37 minutes+15 minutes for cooling

With all the ingredients but the parsley and black pepper added, I transferred the dutch oven to the oven. Every 30 minutes I flipped the pork until it was sufficiently tender, being easily pierced with a paring knife. After a little over 2 and a half hours, I removed the pork to a plate to cool for 15 minutes. I added a little salt to the sauce after skimming some fat from the top. Once rested, I sliced the pork.

Analysis:
This pork is pretty tender. While it doesn’t fall apart, it is very easy to chew and break apart once in your mouth. There is also some juiciness that I enjoyed, not needing the sauce to keep it moist. I enjoyed the flavors, too. Although light, all of the flavors from the few ingredients used were noticeable and well balanced. Everything worked well together. The sauce definitely adds extra flavor, boosting the intensity of all the flavors pretty equally. This recipe is pretty simple and the flavors match. I think if you have the pork and a few hours to spare, this is a good way to use those resources. However, I also think there are better ways to use them. With that being said, I’ll give this recipe a 7/10. It’s solid, but nothing too special.