Le Cochon Caché, located in Villeray, has created a lot of buzz in the blogosphere and social media. I love eating out at places like this where I can learn something new, places where it serves food that I wouldn't normally cook at home. Being a recipe blogger and developer on Random Cuisine, I'm constantly on the search of perfecting recipes. To achieve perfection, it's to learn from others. I acquire a great deal of food knowledge from talking to chefs and staffs ever since I started this blog. Perfecting a recipe requires tweaking the fine details that will make a dish a standout.
Le Cochon Caché is very small restaurant. It can barely fit more than 10 people inside. It is owned by chef Marco Barone who had worked for Gordon Ramsay in London. He was the head chef of Vinizzia, then Hostaria as well as the co-founder of FreshMint, a gourmet delivery service. I had a chance to talk to Chef Noah while he was preparing my meal. He has worked alongside with Marco for over 10 years. I learn a lot about the making of their porchetta as he was describing with passion the techniques and preparation involved. Porchetta is not an easy art, it looks like simple rolled pork but I can guarantee you that it is not as simple as it looks.
The porchetta is composed of pork shoulder and pork belly that are twined and marinated for 24 hours. It is then roasted for 2 1/2 - 3 hours depending on its size. The key step lies in the resting time. The longer it rests, the juicier the pork is. This applies to all meats. It is served with a homemade salsa verde. Their version is chopped by hand. The end result is a cross between a gremolata and pesto. The salsa verde is prepared with good-quality olive oil infused with a handful of mint, basil, parsley, sage, garlic and salt. It's a perfect complement to pork.
The porchetta is composed of pork shoulder and pork belly that are twined and marinated for 24 hours. It is then roasted for 2 1/2 - 3 hours depending on its size. The key step lies in the resting time. The longer it rests, the juicier the pork is. This applies to all meats. It is served with a homemade salsa verde. Their version is chopped by hand. The end result is a cross between a gremolata and pesto. The salsa verde is prepared with good-quality olive oil infused with a handful of mint, basil, parsley, sage, garlic and salt. It's a perfect complement to pork.
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| Porchetta Platter with Rapini and Roasted Potatoes |
We ordered the porchetta platter which comes with a side of roasted potatoes and rapini. Since their restaurant is a few blocks away from Parc Jarry, it's a great spot to enjoy our meal, especially on a sunny day. For only $12, the portions are quite generous. The pork was moist and succulent, you can taste the difference of texture from the pork shoulder and pork belly. The salsa verde gives a nice vibrant and fresh flavours to the protein. There are tiny pieces of pork cracklings that give a lovely element of crunch. The rapini is full of garlicky flavours and the potatoes are roasted nicely with crisp exterior. It's a nice hearty meal!
If you are craving for porchetta (or pork in general), it's definitely worth a trip to Villeray. I'll definitely be back to try out their porchetta poutine and porchetta sandwich.
Le Cochon Caché Porchetta Comptoir Gourmand
7901 avenue Henri-JulienMontreal, QC
514-507-8700
http://www.cochoncache.com
Opening Hours
Daily: 11am-8pm
what camera do you use to take your pictures?
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon, I use two cameras for many of the pictures on this blog - Panasonic GX1 with 25mm lens and Panasonic LX7.
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