Secreto Iberico with Quince, Rocket and Manchego Cheese

13 mins

2 people

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

8 mins

Total Time

13 mins

Secreto Iberico is becoming a more popular meat cut with chefs and restaurants. Widely used in the South of Spain, secreto which translates to ‘secret’ is an off-cut from the top extreme of the lap and next to the loin's top. In the traditional quartering of meat it is joined to the loin's fat or hoja de tocino. The actual cut is small and thin, so it is hard to locate on the pig, hence the name. Iberico pork meat is famed for its beautiful marbling and no other cut displays this more deliciously than the secreto. While it comes from the shoulder area, it has a lot of similarities to a tender skirt steak, it should always be flash-fried or grilled on a medium to high heat and served pink. In this recipe, I pair its delicious creamy flavour with sweet quince paste and some grated manchego cheese for a quick and easy tapas recipe.

Ingredients
Method

200g secreto iberico, all excess fat trimmed
Olive oil for frying
4 tbsp of quince paste
2 tbsp of water
Fresh rocket leaves
50g manchego cheese
Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle
Sea salt
Fresh cracked black pepper

Start by melting in a small sauce pan the quince paste with the water. You will need to press and stir the quince often, so it blends well with the water. Keep it warm.
Heat some oil in a frying pan, once hot, fry the secreto pieces for about 3 minutes on each side. Keep the heat on a medium setting. Do not move the secreto pieces around, as this will prevent them from caramelising and getting crispy. Once cooked, take the secreto pieces out and allow to rest. The secreto should be served medium rare to medium.
To plate the dish, make sure you serve it on a hot plate. Spoon the hot quince puree over the plate. Slice the secreto into thin pieces and lay on top of the hot quince. Sprinkle with some sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Sprinkle on some fresh rocket leaves, grate some manchego cheese and drizzle with a fruity extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately.

Ingredients

200g secreto iberico, all excess fat trimmed
Olive oil for frying
4 tbsp of quince paste
2 tbsp of water
Fresh rocket leaves
50g manchego cheese
Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle
Sea salt
Fresh cracked black pepper

Method

Start by melting in a small sauce pan the quince paste with the water. You will need to press and stir the quince often, so it blends well with the water. Keep it warm.
Heat some oil in a frying pan, once hot, fry the secreto pieces for about 3 minutes on each side. Keep the heat on a medium setting. Do not move the secreto pieces around, as this will prevent them from caramelising and getting crispy. Once cooked, take the secreto pieces out and allow to rest. The secreto should be served medium rare to medium.
To plate the dish, make sure you serve it on a hot plate. Spoon the hot quince puree over the plate. Slice the secreto into thin pieces and lay on top of the hot quince. Sprinkle with some sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Sprinkle on some fresh rocket leaves, grate some manchego cheese and drizzle with a fruity extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately.

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Chef's Profile

Javier De La Hormaza

Javier is a Basque born, trained chef and hospitality professional, owner of Basco Fine Foods, a Spanish food and drink importer based in Yorkshire. He regularly runs client food and drink events around the country and he is a course tutor at Hartingtons of Bakewell cookery school. Javier's passion lies on bringing quality Spanish ingredients and recipes to as many people as possible.

Twitter: @bascofinefoods
Instagram: @mrbasco