On my first day in Tbilisi, I was staying at the Unfound Door boutique hotel, and while waiting for my room to be ready I walked down to the gastrobar and had Rachian pork bruschetta with fig confit and a glass of wine. Thus began my obsession with Rachian smoked pork.
Reading about it, visiting artisans who make it and, of course, eating it at every opportunity, I learned so much about it. Special wild-bred pigs are used to make the pork, they feed in the forests of the High Caucasus mountains, the natural diet adding flavour to the meat. The pigs are slaughtered, and the whole animal is soaked in salt brine till the meat is completely saturated with salt, both as a preservative and for flavour. The meat is slow-smoked for about 40 days with wood from only stone fruit trees. The dried meat is fatty, has tons of flavour and is smoky. This is a slice of meat I do love!
I came back and wanted to play with this ingredient and its flavours in my kitchen. I made these scrambled eggs so I could see if I could pull out the flavours of pork and smoke into the eggs. Rendering the fat and frying the meat did just that. The soft eggs were delicious, and the ground coriander was mild and complimented the flavours. These eggs may have to become a mainstay, at least till the stock of Rachian smoked pork lasts. You can serve it for breakfast, as I have done here, or serve this dish as an appetizer with the scrambled eggs loaded on the toast.
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1 serving
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon Rachian smoked pork fat, finely diced
2 teaspoons Rachain smoked pork meat, finely diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander powder
2 eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Salt, to taste
2-3 teaspoons Rachian smoked pork slivered for garnish
Toast, to serve
Note: Rachian pork is very fatty so you will need a very little salt, if at all.
In a small bowl whip the egg, cream, white pepper and salt, if using. Set aside.
In a small pot fry, the pork fat and meat on a low flame till the fat has rendered and the meat is crisp. Add the scallions and sautè till the onions are soft, about 1 minute. Add the coriander and give a quick stir. Add the eggs and whisk continuously till the eggs are just cooked but still soft. Do not dry out the eggs to a hard and yucky mess.
Serve immediately topped with additional Rachian smoked pork slivers.