Stuffed Pig's Hands with Truffles

History

"Manos de cerdo trufadas" (truffled pig's trotters) is a stuffed-trotter preparation recorded in the Spanish home-cookery collection La Mejor Cocinera, Recetas de Cocina. As the book directs, the trotters are cleaned and boned; a picadillo (forcemeat) of pork loin and jamón is seasoned with spices and mixed with chopped truffles; the trotters, split lengthwise, are filled with this mixture, sewn shut, and simmered until done ("a punto"), then served with a sauce. The printed recipe itself is the primary record for this dish. La Mejor Cocinera is an anonymous domestic recipe collection published by Editorial Saturnino Calleja in Madrid. The earliest firmly located edition is 1921, with later issues catalogued as [1923?] and [1943?]. The book is not credited to any named author; Saturnino Calleja Fernández (1855–1915) was the publisher and founder of the house, not the recipe's author. Its preface dedicates the book to "la dueña del hogar" — the woman of the house — explicitly "cualquiera que sea su posición social" (whatever her social position). Within this collection, chopped truffles recur as an enrichment across several meat recipes, among them "ternera trufada," "pavo trufado," and "jamoncillo trufado." Beyond the cookbook's own text, the historical record I was able to consult does not document a specific inventor, region of origin, datable first appearance, or social meaning for this particular recipe.

Ingredients

• pig's hands
• pork loin (lomo)
• jamón (cured ham)
• spices
• truffles

Instructions

1. Clean the pig's hands thoroughly and remove the bones. Prepare a picadillo (minced filling) from pork loin and jamón (cured ham), season it well with spices, and mix in the chopped truffles. Split the hands lengthwise and fill them with this mixture. Sew them closed and cook until tender (a point). Once cooked, prepare a sauce to accompany them and serve.