La Reverencia, the Cadiz-style pulled pork sandwich that lives up to its name
Para 4 1.8 €/pers. 205 kcal/100g.
- For the shredded meat:
- 600g of pork loin or neck, encased in a net or tied
- 1/2 onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- 8-10 black peppercorns
- 100 ml of dry white wine
- 350-400 ml of water
- 25 ml of extra virgin olive oil
- Shall
- To assemble 4 bows:
- 8 thick slices of baguette, cut slightly on the bias
- 300-350 g of cold shredded beef
- 2 ripe but firm red tomatoes
- 30 ml of extra virgin olive oil, approximately
- Shall
- We start by preparing the meat. Peel the onion and cut it into large pieces. Give the garlic cloves a quick whack with the side of a knife, no need to chop them.
- Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Add the onion, garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaf. Cook for a couple of minutes over medium heat.
- We salt the pork loin end and add it whole, either inside its netting or tied with kitchen twine. We brown the meat on all sides for about 6-8 minutes. We don't intend to cook it completely yet, just to give it some color on the outside.
- Pour in the white wine and let it boil for a couple of minutes. Add the water and close the pressure cooker. Once it reaches pressure, cook for 20-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat.
- Remove the pot from the heat and let the pressure release before opening it. Take the meat out when it's cool enough to handle and let it cool. Then refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, although it will slice even better if left overnight.
- Once cooled, remove the netting or string. With a sharp knife, slice the meat thinly, about 3-4 millimeters thick. We don't want thick steaks: a Reverence should be bite-sized without pulling up all the filling.
- We cut the baguette slightly on the bias. If we want to make our own bread, we can start with this sandwich bread recipe. To respect the classic open-faced sandwich, we don't toast the bread.
- We wash the tomatoes and slice them into rounds about half a centimeter thick. We want a red and flavorful tomato, but still firm, so that it holds its shape inside the bread.
- We place several slices of shredded meat on four slices of bread. We put a generous slice of tomato on top and add a small pinch of salt over the tomato.
- We finish with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. It's best not to be overly timid here: the oil is part of the Reverence's character and even explains its name.
- We top it with the other four slices of bread and serve immediately. The dish should be juicy, simple, and slightly sticky, which is exactly what we're aiming for.
The Reverencia has a much more amusing explanation than its list of ingredients. This small sandwich from San Fernando was prepared with bread, shredded beef, tomato, salt, and oil, and you had to lean forward when taking a bite so the oil wouldn't stain your shirt. The name comes from this posture: to eat it as tradition dictated, you literally had to bow.
Its history is linked to the now-closed Los Dardanelos bar, near Rosario Street in San Fernando. Local culinary sources place this small sandwich in the early decades of the 20th century and say that it eventually spread to grocery stores and other shops on the island. Its memory even made it into the book "La Historia pequeña de la isla de San Fernando" (The Short History of the Island of San Fernando) by Julio Molina Font.
There's also an important detail to understand the recipe. Here, "carne mechá" doesn't mean shredded meat as it is in other countries. We're talking about Andalusian-style shredded meat, usually prepared with the head or end of a pork loin, chilled and sliced thinly. It's a dish closely associated with pork in Andalusia and especially recognizable in Cádiz, Huelva, and Seville. For La Reverencia, we want it to be juicy yet firm, because it needs to be able to be sliced cleanly.
