Stuffed pig’s trotter, the Pierre Koffman way – cookbook tells you how to make it

One of the dishes I have been longing to try is Pierre Koffmann’s stuffed pig’s trotter. I read about it years ago, but I’m still no closer to eating it. I can’t try it at any of the London-based French chef’s restaurants, because he no longer has any (his last place, Koffmann’s, at The Berkeley hotel in the British capital, closed in 2016). And, after looking at the recipe in Classic Koffmann (2016), I know I won’t be cooking it.

The recipe, created for Koffmann’s first restaurant, La Tante Claire, involves deboning a pig’s trotter (preferably a back foot because it is larger than a front one), poaching it with vegetables, port wine and stock, then stuffing it with a mixture that includes sweet­breads and morel mushrooms stirred into chicken breast that’s been puréed with egg white and cream. The stuffed trotters are then wrapped in foil and steamed or baked before being served with mashed potatoes and a sauce.

Sounds complicated? It is! That’s because Koffmann is an old-school French chef whose dishes draw on old-school French classics – a style of cuisine that, sadly, has become less popular among young cooks.