Xesc Reina's secrets: "In Mallorca, a black pig is a walking sobrasada"

Barcelona"Heenfant terrible "Of the cured meats," the food journalist Carme Gasull described him when introducing him. Xesc Reina is one of the most renowned charcuterie makers. He's Catalan, but has been based in Mallorca for years, where he has become famous for his sobrasada. His sobrasadas are so famous that the restaurants that serve them always "add" it—it's become a mouth-watering enticement. Similarly, the larger pieces are also displayed in many establishments, because you'll inevitably end up ordering them. Chefs like Rafa Panatieri and Jorge Sastre of Sartoria Panatieri, Marc Ribas or Rafa Peña, from the Gresca restaurantReina is a virtuoso of sausages, but also a headline-generating machine: "for us, sobrasada is a necessity", "in Mallorca a black pig is a walking sobrasada" or "each pig's intestine is a container".

"The only problem with sobrasada is that there isn't enough for everyone," says Reina, while showing photos of the black pigs at Can Company, where he makes this succulent, reddish sausage. He explains that there are 3,000 black pigs on the island, animals accustomed to the land and its needs. "In Mallorca, we haven't always had what we wanted. The sash-shaped pig was invented to have a higher quality animal," he explains. However, with the black pig, things are what they are. "The black pig has a bad habit. When it arrives from the slaughterhouse, we'll ask it how much sobrasada it will give us." Reina is referring to the fat-to-meat ratio and warns amateur charcuterie makers that the best antioxidant is not using fats that can't be used. As a Mallorcan woman taught him, "All the fat that passes through the casing is useless for making sobrasada. The more soluble fats oxidize too quickly."

The black pig is unreliable because it doesn't have a predictable amount of meat or fat. "It varies because some are active and some are lazy. So it's a job that can't be automated," the artisan explains. Once opened, he makes several types of sobrasada: the temperate kind, which is eaten raw; then comes the salchichón, made with a narrow casing and which can be grilled 15 days later. And he continues making various types until he arrives at the "bishop" (a type of sausage), which is what we see displayed in restaurants.

"Cured meats are children of the sky where they are born," says Reina. "In Mallorca we have 80% relative humidity; a ham would rot here. So the only way we have to preserve the pig is by making sobrasada." And in this sense, he explains why they make the best sobrasadas, unlike those who are famous in the world of Iberian cured meats. "Someone who makes the best ham in the world, chorizo, salchichón... makes sobrasada with whatever's left over, but for me, sobrasada is made with pork loin." It's a matter of priorities. "Our direct competition might seem to be Iberian pork. But for us, it's the crown jewel. It's not about using up leftovers, it's Mallorcan culture," he says as if he were born on the island. "Homemade sobrasada has to last six months, so you have to make it really well because otherwise, it won't keep. There are many foods in the world that are only legal." And by that, he means they don't kill animals, but that doesn't mean they're good.

This is how sobrasada is made

And now for Reina's secrets. What makes her sobrasada so exceptional? "The key to a good sobrasada is a 50/50 ratio of fat to meat. 170 kilos of pork yields 20 kg of sobrasada. Doing it right penalizes me. If I have 20 kg of fat and 30 kg of meat, then we end up with a black pig's whip," X explains. But there's another crucial factor: the cortín pepper. The cortín pepper is the essential Mallorcan paprika for the recipe. "To prevent the sobrasada from going rancid, the pepper needs to be fresh. Then it has hints of peach, it's fruity. And it's one of the best antioxidants in the world. If it's from last year, it will oxidize the sobrasada," she explains. Meanwhile, the entire audience rushes to take notes.

As for the salt, twenty years ago they used 30 grams. Now, it doesn't need to dry so quickly. "I make a naturally 'dirty' sobrasada. The idea behind sobrasada is that it's slow-cooked, like a simmering pot. It has to dry out gradually." So we settled on between 18 and 22 grams of salt per kilo. Sobrasada should be made in winter, when temperatures are low, but if it's well made, it will keep for a long time, even in high humidity.

Then comes the black pepper. "As much as you like. My mentor used to say that black pepper is spicy and gives you a warning." He uses about 3 grams per kilo. For the cortín cork, about 55 grams per kilo. But he varies it depending on how old the cortín cork is. And then we wonder how it is that he, who has become famous for making it, explains the recipe to us so cheerfully. "Because the secret is to love it and refine it," he says confidently.

"Deli meats have gone from being a necessity for preservation to something fun," he says. And he explains the time he brought a rancid sobrasada to a cooking school. "They asked me to give a sustainability class, I brought a rancid sobrasada, and people insulted me. Then we put it in a pan and added honey. That's how they ate it. Before, nothing was thrown away," he says, all smiles.

Then he shows the cardboard box the sobrasada comes in, also designed to be stored in the refrigerator so it doesn't absorb odors. "If the hairdryer smells like tripe or shit, to put it bluntly, the sobrasada will pick it up," he explains. So you have to be careful.

Reina reminds us that a good Mallorcan sobrasada isn't spread, it's rubbed. That it should be at hand temperature. And that it doesn't need to be heated beyond body temperature. We tested it. in situ All the attendees. Then he reminisces about when he was at the Can Sacalm delicatessen in Mataró in 1985 and a lady from Mallorca gave him a recipe for making sobrasada. "I've always had a relationship with sobrasada. I was hooked and still am."