Pork Cheeks

Savenor’s had some pork cheeks. I had my bright and shiny new Pork & Sons . I had a brand-new Staub cocotte, bought on impulse from Amazon for $60 but now back (alas!) at $240.

Why not?

• Pork cheeks, braised in Gigondas (name witheld)
• Ragout of dried cherries and carmelized onion
• Mashed potatoes
• Côtes du Rhône (named withheld)

The pork cheeks were tender, not fatty or tough, and their taste was distinctly different from, say, pork shoulder. Not necessarily better than shoulder, but different. I’m not certain that the flavor didn’t owe something to the Gigondas, which was bought for a price too good to be true. The wine proved not to be too good to be true when we opened it, Linda suggested that we relegate it to braising duty, and perhaps that was the problem. And the CDR we tried with dinner, also a bargain, had lots of acid and tannin but not much else