Apig's trotter, also known as a pettitoe,[1] is the culinary term for a pig's foot. It is used as a cut of pork in various dishes around the world, and experienced a resurgence in the late 2000s.[2]
Before sale, the trotters are cleaned and typically have the hairs pulled with a hot tank and beaters.[3] They are often used in cooking to make stocks, as they add thickness to gravy, although they are also served as a normal cut of meat.[3] In Puerto Rico, a tomato-based stew of pigs' trotters with chickpeas is called patitas de cerdo. Sometimes potatoes or butternut are added. Chef Marco Pierre White has long served trotters at his restaurants,[4] based on the original recipe of mentor Pierre Koffmann.[5] In the New York City restaurant Hakata Tonton, 33 of the 39 dishes served contain pigs' trotters.[6]
Following the late-2000s financial crisis, there has been a boom in popularity of pigs' trotters in the United Kingdom as a revival in cheap meat recipes occurred.[2] In 2008, British supermarket Waitrose reintroduced trotters to its stores,[4] and found that they quickly became popular.[2] In 2009, Pierre Koffmann set up a pop-up restaurant, and found that diners ate an entire month's stock of 500 pigs' trotters in less than a week.[2]
In Norwegian tradition, pigs' feet are salted and boiled and served as syltelabb. This is a pre-Christmas dish because the pig was slaughtered before Christmas, and everything was used. Today syltelabb is for enthusiasts.[7]
