Saus

Ingredients

Meat

• 1.5 kgpigs’ feet, split
• or pigs’ ears and trotters mixed

To boil

• 3 litreswater
• 1onion
• 2bay leaves
• 1 tbsppeppercorns
• salt

Pickle

• juice of 10 limes, about 400 ml
• 2onions, thinly sliced
• 2cucumbers, sliced
• 4hot peppers, sliced
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1 bunchculantro or coriander, chopped

Optional

• 1 tbspvinegar
• 1 tsporegano

To serve

• cold, in bowls, with soda crackers

Directions

1. Cover them with cold water, bring to a boil, and boil hard for 10 minutes. Discarding the first boil takes off the scum and the strongest smell, and skipping it gives a cloudy greasy result. Return them to the clean pot with fresh water, the onion, bay, peppercorns and salt. Simmer, covered, for 2 to 2 hours 30 minutes.
2. Keep it at a bare simmer rather than a boil, which emulsifies the fat into the water and clouds everything. They are done when the meat and skin pull easily from the bone and there is no chew left at all.
3. Cook them genuinely soft. Undercooked trotter is rubbery and unpleasant cold, and it cannot be fixed in the pickle. Lift them out and let them cool enough to handle. Keep the skin and the soft cartilage, because that gelatinous texture is what people eat saus for. Cut everything into bite-sized pieces.
4. Let the meat cool completely before it goes into the pickle. Adding warm meat to lime juice cooks the surface and clouds the pickle, and the whole thing goes greasy. Slice the onions and cucumbers thinly and soak the onion in cold water for 10 minutes, then drain. Soaking the raw onion takes the harshest bite out while keeping the crunch.
5. Combine the cooled meat with the lime juice, onion, cucumber, hot peppers, salt, pepper and culantro. Use plenty of lime. It is the preserving agent and the main seasoning, and the dish should be sharply sour.
6. Add a little of the cooking broth if you need more liquid, which also helps it set. Now refrigerate it for at least 24 hours. Stir it once or twice during that time. It will thicken and the liquid will go slightly jellied when cold, which is exactly right. Taste it before serving and adjust the salt and lime.
7. Serve it cold, straight from the fridge, in small bowls with soda crackers. It keeps four or five days refrigerated and the flavour deepens.

Technique

• It is closely related to Jamaican and Trinidadian pickled pig’s foot dishes.
• Pigs’ ears are used alongside or instead of the feet.
• It is served on Panamanian holidays and at Carnival.

Substitutions

• Pigs’ ears or a mix of ears and trotters.
• Vinegar for part of the lime juice, which keeps longer.

Variations

• Made with pigs’ ears.
• With more chilli, which is common.
• With chopped tomato added.

History

An Afro-Antillean dish of Colon and Bocas del Toro, brought by West Indian workers recruited for the railway and the Panama Canal.

Frequently asked questions

What is Saus?

Saus is a snack from Panama: pigs’ feet pickled with lime, onion, cucumber and hot pepper. An Afro-Antillean dish of Colon and Bocas del Toro, brought by West Indian workers recruited for the railway and the Panama Canal.

How long does Saus take to make?

Saus takes 40 min plus 24 hr pickling of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Saus?

Yes, within limits. Pigs’ ears or a mix of ears and trotters. Vinegar for part of the lime juice, which keeps longer.

What is the most important thing to get right in Saus?

Keep it at a bare simmer rather than a boil, which emulsifies the fat into the water and clouds everything. They are done when the meat and skin pull easily from the bone and there is no chew left at all.