Pork Loin Cutlets à la Juncadella
Source: Anonymous, 1920
History
This recipe appears as "Lomo de cerdo a la Juncadella" in "La Mejor Cocinera, Recetas de Cocina," an anonymously authored Spanish domestic cookbook published by Editorial Saturnino Calleja in Madrid; located editions are dated 1921 and 1923. As printed, the dish is straightforward home cooking: good fillets of fresh pork loin are cut and pounded flat, brushed with melted lard, then coated in grated white breadcrumbs mixed with a little garlic and parsley, pressed, and fried in hot lard until golden. It is finished with a generous garnish of eggplant and peppers roasted in the oven, peeled, cut into regular pieces, and sautéed with a little oil, garlic, and parsley; the cutlets are plated on one side of the dish and the garnish on the other, with a little juice added. The book calls it "un excelente plato de almuerzo" — an excellent lunch dish. It also notes the same method can be used for beef-tenderloin fillets, beef loin, roast leg of mutton, and other meats. Beyond this, the historical record documents little. The name "a la Juncadella" is unexplained in the source; Juncadella is a Catalan surname, but no source I found ties the name to a specific person, family, or place of origin, and the dish's earlier history is not documented.
Ingredients
- pork loin cutlets, fresh
- manteca de cerdo (lard), melted
- white bread crumbs
- garlic
- parsley
- manteca de cerdo (lard), for frying
- eggplants
- peppers
- olive oil
- jugo (pan drippings or light stock)
Instructions
- Slice good-quality fresh pork loin into cutlets and pound them thin. Brush lightly with melted lard (manteca de cerdo). Dredge the cutlets through a mixture of grated white bread crumbs combined with minced garlic and parsley. Press the coating gently into the meat.
- Fry the cutlets in hot lard until golden brown on both sides; remove and set aside.
- Prepare the garnish: roast eggplants and peppers in the oven until tender. Strip away the skin and cut the vegetables into neat, regular pieces. Sauté the vegetables briefly in a little olive oil with minced garlic and parsley.
- To serve, arrange the cutlets on one side of the platter and the vegetable garnish on the other. Add a little pan juices (jugo) and bring to table. An excellent lunch course.