Fresh-pork Cutlets à la Charcutiere

Côtelettes de porc frais à la charcutière (fresh-pork cutlets the charcutier's way) teach one true thing: crumbed pork must grill gently. Fierce heat blackens the fine raspings before the center is juicy; moderate heat and patient basting turn the buttered coat bronze while the meat stays tender.

The original kitchen assumed a saucier with Robert Sauce (No. 52) ready, a stockpot never off the fire behind it, and a salamander or steady charcoal grill above the meat. Your honest home equivalent is a prepared small batch of the referenced sauce, a low broiler, and a wire rack over a sheet pan. The brigade-sized sauce batch and long bain-marie hold are scaffolding, so they go. The fine buttered crumbs, gentle grilling, repeated basting, and last-minute gherkins are the dish, so they stay. The quantities here are halved from the book's batch for eight to ten cutlets, giving four home portions with generous sauce.

At the table, the cutlets form a loose circle around glossy Sauce Charcutière, with the potato purée kept separately so the crumbs remain themselves. Before touching the pork, set the broiler low and move the rack well away from its heat. That distance decides the dish. One cook, one stove, one evening.