Pork cheeks slowly stewed for hours become fork tender, with a rich meaty flavor. Like oxtail or lamb shanks, pork cheeks are a hearty delicacy best served with a tasty red wine and plenty of bread to sop up the juices. In Spain they are called ‘carrillada’ and they are a favorite dish of our family.
These pork cheeks will arrive frozen. Thaw in the refrigerator before cooking.
Texas Iberico® pigs are raised on the Trails End Ranch by Ashly Martin, a third-generation rancher in Comfort, Texas. The pigs roam the wide open countryside, eating acorns, grass, herbs, sweet mesquite beans, prickly pear fruit and any other wild forage they can find. This exceptional diet imparts intense flavor to the pork.
Several years ago, a herd of purebred Iberico pigs was flown from Spain to America. When they were released on the 1,500-acre ranch the hearty animals were at home in the hill country of Texas, a similar ecosystem to the 'dehesa' rangeland of western Spain. Their diet of acorns, mesquite beans and prickly pear are full of nutrition and antioxidants that add a uniquely Texan flavor to the pork.
All of the Texas Iberico® pigs live outside their entire lives on one ranch, wandering the pasture together with over an acre of rangeland per animal.
You will receive this pork frozen, delivered on dry ice. Thaw before cooking. The USDA recommends cooking all whole cuts of meat (including pork) to 145°F as measured with a food thermometer placed in the thickest part of the meat.
NOTE: this item is CA Prop 12 compliant.