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human nutrition for thousands of years: according to historical sources, the first domestication of livestock dates back to the Neolithic period.

Pork meat is a valuable source of vitamins and minerals and is mainly pale pink in colour, varying according to the cut, as well as the breed and age of the animal. With regard to the calories and protein content, pork meat is almost the same as beef meat, while as for fat content it has a higher percentage of some essential fatty acids.

It is very versatile and allows lots of different preparations; but be careful about its cooking time which needs to be long, in order to get the most out of its organoleptic properties, yet without risking that the meat be tough and plain on the palate. However, most importantly, you need to use high heat to remove any risk related to bacterial contamination that the animal is exposed to during its life and later when slaughtered.

You can overcome these difficulties and obtain safe and tender meat by using waveco® and its induced maturation©: thanks to this innovative technique, we can reduce the lengthy cooking time and obtain a tender and tasty product which has preserved all its delicate nutritional properties as well as achieve an incomparable result in terms of food safety and shelf life.

Let’s test waveco® with the preparation of this recipe: “Pork Loin, Lentils and Turnip Greens”

To prepare this recipe, you will need: pork loin, lentils, turnip greens, extra-virgin olive oil.

PORK LOIN

Take a piece of pork loin weighing about 0.6-1.0 kg, put it into a bag and run induced maturation© for 40 minutes; then, cook it at low potential temperature with waveco® at 65 °C for 45 minutes. At the end of the process, thanks to the heatless cooking of induced maturation©  the meat cut has kept its juices, cut its bacterial load to zero and increased its tenderness, while its nutrients remain unchanged. Then, with waveco®'s potential temperature cooking we can cook through the core of food sooner, saving time and obtaining a tender and juicy product.

TECHNICAL FOCUS: PORK MEAT COOKING

Pork meat cooking times vary from those used for red meat. You need to cook it for prolonged periods at temperatures higher than 60 °C to remove any risk related to bacterial contamination. But be careful not to exceed those times, as the main risk is for the meat to lose too much liquid and thus become chewy, hard to digest and absolutely unpleasant on the palate.

LENTILS

Put 900 gr of dried lentils and 200 ml of water in a bag and run induced maturation© for 60 minutes; then, low boil in a pot for 15 minutes. Thanks to waveco®, at the end of the process the lentils have kept their natural colour and taste, have become more tender and will be easier to digest despite the fact they have not been soaked.

TECHNICAL FOCUS: SOAKING LEGUMES

Almost all legumes need to be soaked in water for a long period of time before being cooked. This operation helps hydrate them and make them more tender and digestible, activates the germination, eliminates any anti-nutritional substances (such as the phytates) and reduces subsequent cooking times.

TURNIP GREENS

Put approximately 100-150 gr of turnip greens and 400 ml of water into a container and start maturazione spinta© for 10 minutes; then, stir-fry them in a pan. Thanks to waveco® your vegetables show no oxidation, have kept their vivid colour and obviously all their properties of course. They are tasty and fragrant on the palate.

TECHNICAL FOCUS: OXIDISING VEGETABLES

Regardless of the system adopted, cooking changes the organoleptic properties of all foods, particularly of vegetables, and causes a loss of their nutritional properties. Therefore, the food taste, texture and aroma will vary, as well as the food colour, which decays due to oxidation.

PLATING UP

Blend a part of the lentils with some extra-virgin olive oil and place drops of the mixture on the serving plate; lay down the loin with a mix of turnip greens on top. On the side, add an abundant serving of lentils. Garnish to taste adding spices.

CHEF FOCUS

With induced maturation© we can avoid soaking legumes and save time in the kitchen, obtaining food which has maintained its original colour and nutritional properties and increased its taste and tenderness.

Thanks to waveco® we can cook a cut of pork preventing the loss of liquids and therefore of its nutritional and organoleptic properties, render a product safe in terms of health due to the reduction in the bacterial load while, at the same time, obtaining tender and juicy meat.