Presa Ibérica a la Plancha

Presa ibérica a la plancha belongs to the dehesa country of western Andalucía, especially the Sierra de Aracena in Huelva. Presa is the thick, marbled piece nestled where the shoulder meets the loin. Here it needs no marinade and no sauce to hide behind, only salt and a fierce plancha, the flat iron that gives the meat its dark crust while the middle stays rosy.

The method that decides it is simple: dry the meat thoroughly, put it onto properly hot iron, and stop cooking at 63°C in the centre. The fine fat then softens through the meat instead of draining away while the muscle tightens. Rest it for five minutes and slice against the grain. That's what keeps each mouthful juicy rather than stubborn.

If presa cannot be found where you are, ask for well-marbled pork collar or neck, aguja de cerdo in a Spanish butcher's shop. It has a coarser grain and less of the sweet, nutty fat of presa de bellota, but it takes the same treatment honestly. No hace falta haber pisado España. My Margin for this one says only: dry meat, hot iron, five quiet minutes. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.