Crépinettes is a traditional Seychelloise recipe for a classic dish of herbed pork and pork liver meatballs covered in caul fat that are fried to cook. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Seychelles version of: Crépinettes.
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The search for this recipe happened in a very roundabout way. I was looking for the descendants of Ancient Roman Iscia Omentata, a meat and bread patty covered in caul fat and fried (or Omentata ita Fiunt [Liver Meatballs]). This brought me to crepine the French for pig's caul fat. This led me to crépinettes, a French dish of forcemeat often shaped into patties that are covered in caul and fried. The French brought crépinettes to the Seychelles where it's typically made from a blend of minced pork and minced liver (kind of like Roman iscia) and is sometimes spelled krepinet. So I've found a modern recipe that closely echoes the Ancient Roman original.
Chicken liver is found very commonly throughout Africa, which is why I suggest it here but you could easily substitute pork liver for this. Note that I typically use a fairly fatty cut of meat or introduce some minced belly pork for this recipe. If your pork is lean than add in about 60g finely minced pork fat or some caul fat trimmings, chopped, to improve the moistness. Don't skip the liver... originally it was added to make the dish cheaper, but it's actually important for the flavour profile. Though this dish was once widely prepared on the Seychelle islands and is now a rarely prepared and almost forgotten dish.
Ingredients:
500g Pork mince
2 sheets caul fat (allow for wastage through trimming)
200g chicken liver; coarsely chopped
60g pork fat, lard or trimmings from the caul fat (see note, above)
1 onion, finely chopped or grated
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 sprig fresh rosemary, needles stripped from the stem and chopped
3 sprigs fresh oregano, chopped
1 sprig thyme, small leaves stripped
1 tbsp chilli flakes
2 eggs, beaten
25g plain flour
salt and cracked black pepper
Method:
Rinse the caul fat in cold water, then transfer to a bowl of warm water soaking it for about 5 minutes. The warm water softens the fat in the caul and minimises the tearing of the membrane when wrapping.
At the end of this time, remove the caul from the bowl and pat dry with kitchen paper. Lay it flat over a cutting board and trim all excess fat. Keep the trimmings because you may require to use it as extra fat if your mince is too lean.
Wash and pat dry the liver and coarsely chop then set aside. If you are adding extra fat then bring the fat (or caul trimmings) to room temperature before chopping it as finely as you can, then set aside until needed.
Bring your mince to room temperature then turn into a large bowl. Add all the other ingredients, mixing them into the pork mince using your hands.
Once everything is mixed, oil your hands then scoop a spoonful of the filling and place it in the palm of one hand before rolling it into a small balls of approximately 3.5cm in diameter (about 50-60 grams weight). If desired you can slightly flatten the ball into a patty or you can keep as a ball.
Place each shaped piece of meat mixture on the caul fat, spacing them evenly about 18cm apart and then cut a square of approximately 9cm around each one.
Fold the caul fat over each ball and gently flatten slightly into a small patty shape, creating a crépinette. Note that you need to completely wrap the caul around the patty. It's better to have too much caul fat than too little.
Set each completed crépinette on a baking tray, setting them seam side down. Refrigerate until needed.
Place a deep frying pan over medium heat. Add in enough oil so that it comes about 1/2 way up the sides of your crépinettes.
Once the oil is hot, add the crépinettes seam-side down and shallow fry for 5 to 6 minutes per side, until golden brown or until no longer pink in the centre. Turn them over every about every two minutes. Do not be tempted to rush this; crépinettes are best cooked at a relatively leisurely pace. Once cooked, transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.
The crépinettes can be eaten they, or in a sauce of your choice and accompanied with rice. For example, you can serve in a tomato sauce or thin gravy, or you can even cook them in a daube.
