Pork for Stew

We cut this exclusively from our Coppa — the most marbled, most flavorful muscle on the pasture raised pig, the one serious butchers isolate and everyone else grinds. There are only two per animal. Five star chefs reach for it when they want pulled pork that goes beyond the ordinary. Easily approachable 2-inch cubes, so a household of two can have that same result in a Dutch oven on a Tuesday night without committing to a five pound roast.

Most pork sold as stew meat is scraps — trimmings and offcuts that didn't earn a place anywhere else in the butcher's case. Ours is too good to be sausage.

The intramuscular fat in the Coppa does not sit on top of the meat — it runs through it, and under low, slow heat it renders completely into the surrounding liquid, producing a braise so rich it barely needs seasoning. Sear the cubes hard first in a hot pan until deeply browned on all sides, then braise low and slow in wine, stock, or bone broth with aromatics for two to three hours until the meat yields completely and the liquid has reduced around it into something glossy and serious. A crockpot on low for six to seven hours gets you to the same place with less attention required. Either way, what comes out of that pot is not stew meat. It is the best pork you have ever braised.

Sold in approximately 2 lb packs, priced by weight.

If you are building the braise, our bone broth belongs in that pot. Our Coppa roast is the same cut in its full form for when you are cooking for a crowd, and our smoked hocks will take the braising liquid somewhere extraordinary.