Coffee lover? Pork lover? We’ve got a Christmas gift for you.
We’ve been working behind-the-scenes with Republica Organic coffee to develop a recipe that aligns two of our greatest loves, pork and coffee. And to make it a little more special, we also engaged Emma Nicholson from Em’s Food For Friends to help us create a masterpiece of a dish. Over to Em, to explain how she created her ‘Coffee Spiced Pork Belly and Grilled Pineapple Salsa.’
Something really quite exciting happened to me the other day. I was approached by my friends Australian Pork to collaborate with not just them, but Australia’s Number 1 Organic Coffee Company, Republica Organic to produce a recipe incorporating these two outstanding ingredients. Quite the challenge! Luckily for me, I love a good challenge and particularly when I get to live and breathe two of my favourite things, coffee and pork. This also gave me the opportunity to think of a potential Christmas dish and with the Festive Season upon us, there is no shortage of gatherings where I could woo my guests with a cracking pork dish with a difference.
So, it started. The 4am mind racing, my husband asking what the hell I was doing sitting up in bed at that time researching on my phone, the constant chit chat about how I was going to do this and what did he think of that? With my Em’s Food Brain set to explode I came up with something quite inspiring, I think. My mind kept leaning towards the Caribbean. Think summer, swaying palms, mojitos, coconuts, Bob Marley in the background and the heady scent of coffee and roasting pork. I was completely transported and knew that I had found the perfect food marriage.
Coffee Spiced Pork Belly with Grilled Pineapple Salsa. Accompanying this, a creamy side of Coconut Rice & Black Beans and a fresh topping of Spring Onion & Toasted Coconut Flakes. This dish was an amazing journey of textures and flavours however for me, the absolute highlight was the coffee rubbed pork crackling, that was sweet, tangy, bitter, salty and so, so crispy. Perfection!
To achieve the ultimate crispy pork crackling, this recipe requires quite a few steps. The good news is that these steps take very little time, even though it seems like a lengthy process you can just go about your day in between. Just remember, you simply cannot rush perfection!
You can view the recipe and the finished product below!
