Yeah, sorry good people of America, I know that’s a problematic word for you.
But us Brits were here first with this UK food item, so just live with the ambiguity. Life is after all ambiguity. There’s rough edges, there’s gaps and holes. There’s uncertainty. That’s how it is. And those of you who know, know…
As you’ll recall, I yield to no one in my deep, abiding, fan-boy love for the inimitable wondrousness that is Fergus Henderson and his team…
…at St. John in Spitalfields. It’s been way, way, waaaay too long since we’ve had a chance safely to get out and about or to eat at a restaurant of any description, let alone this one; the ‘Rona has meant that a trip to the EC1M post-code is well overdue. Soon come I hope. In the meantime, here’s his recipe for faggots and the only thing I’ve taken issue with is his claim that…
makes about 24 faggots – enough to serve 12
…that’s just plain wrong. I could eat a dozen of these beauties on my own in one sitting (OK, possibly an exaggeration I know, but you get what I’m saying). Wasn’t it Bob Dylan who said “Don’t hold back”?….
This recipe is excerpted from his latest magnum opus, “The Book of St John: Over 100 Brand New Recipes from London’s Iconic Restaurant”
Fergus is as much philosopher and sage as he is chef. As a trained architect, he’s there for the structure and the stock, so of course, he starts off the recipe with a question:
What is the difference between a faggot and a meatball? This is not, as those who are less familiar with these delicacies might suspect, the beginning of a distasteful joke, but a serious point: a faggot contains lung, a meatball does not.
And then goes on to remind people that:
You will need a mincer or an obliging butcher. Rejoice in a plenitude of faggots! The quantities may seem large, but it is almost impossible to make fewer since you are using a whole pluck.
Ingredients:
1kg fatty pork belly, coarsely minced
1 pig’s pluck – heart, liver and lungs – cleaned of blood and coarsely minced
250g back fat, chopped to the size of a thumbnail
A dollop of lard or duck fat
4 cloves of garlic (optional), peeled and chopped
12 white onions, peeled: 4 chopped finely, 8 sliced coarsely
Sea salt and black pepper
½ a bottle of Madeira
½ a bunch of thyme, leaves picked and chopped
1 bunch of sage, leaves picked and chopped
1 bunch of parsley, leaves picked and chopped
Approximately 250g day-old breadcrumbs
1kg pig’s caul fat, soaked in cold water
A ready supply of chicken stock
Lamb and kid faggots are equally successful, depending on which pluck you can get your hands on and which pluck takes your fancy. The rest of the ingredients remain the same.
Preparation:
Mix the minced belly, offal and back fat in a suitably sized receptacle. Drop your lard or duck fat into a pan and sweat the garlic before adding your chopped onions only (not the sliced onions). Season bravely and soften without colouring. Crank up the heat beneath your pan and splash in the Madeira, reducing until barely a trace remains. Remove from the heat and allow to cool: this is the foundation for flavour and should be unapologetically intense, the onions sweet yet savoury and teetering on the edge of being over-seasoned. Now thoroughly mix the onion mixture, along with the thyme, sage and parsley, into the minced meats and back fat.
When you feel that all is well mixed, mix again, adding the breadcrumbs as you go. The importance of this is twofold: first, they will bind the mixture, and second, they will cling on to the pork fat, trapping it within the faggot. It might be prudent, having come this far, to try a little. In which case, cook a spoonful in a frying pan and taste. Adjust with more salt and pepper if needed, finishing with another slug of Madeira if you have it to hand.
Set the oven to hot, pack your sliced onions into a roasting tray and set aside. Now to roll the faggots. 100g is a good size for each, making one sufficient for a starter or two for a main course. Lifting the caul fat out of the water as you go to prevent it drying and becoming hard to work with, wrap each faggot in a piece approximately 12cm square. The mixture is looser than that of a meatball, so be delicate with your handfuls. Caul fat provides the rigour for the cannonballs – it is amazing that something so thin can be so strong.
Cooking:
Line the faggots up on the bed of onions like the Chinese Terracotta Army, each giving structure to its companions, and pour the stock around the serried ranks without submerging them entirely – think wading not swimming. Place the tray directly on the heat, bring to a simmer, then place in the oven for around 45 minutes to 1 hour. The end result is magical layers, moving from the sticky brown crust at the top through to the moist faggots and the sweet, soupy onions underneath.
He finished with a reminder that
A faggot has many friends:
Swede Mash
Green Split Peas
Lentils
Braised turnips
Watercress and Vinaigrette
Mushy Celeriac
Etc.
Such joy.