Fergus Henderson’s Trotter Gear

By Sam Sifton

Updated November 26, 2023

  • Julia Gartland for The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
About 3½ hours
Rating
4(600)
Comments
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Trotter gear? The British chef Fergus Henderson calls it that – an unctuous and shockingly delicious jellied broth made from pigs’ feet, vegetables and Madeira that imparts an intensely flavorful, lip-sticking quality to any stew or soup to which it is added. He gave The Times the recipe in 2009. It is project cooking at its most exciting and slightly ridiculous – a four- or five-hour process that yields 6 or so cups of glory to punch up any recipe for beans that you have on hand, elevate a beef-and-Guinness pie to extraordinary heights, make fantastic an otherwise benign casserole of baked chicken thighs. Friends and family will ask: What’s the secret ingredient? Say nothing until well after all the plates are cleared.

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Ingredients

Yield:Makes about 6 cups

  • 3 trotters (pigs’ feet)

  • 2 red onions, halved

  • 2 ribs celery, chopped

  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped

  • 2 leeks, cleaned and chopped

  • 1 head garlic

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 12 black peppercorns

  • 2 sprigs thyme

  • 1 cup Madeira or other sweet wine, or one bottle red wine

  • About 1 quart chicken stock

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving

22 grams carbs; 55 milligrams cholesterol; 267 calories; 5 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 9 grams fat; 3 grams fiber; 339 milligrams sodium; 19 grams protein; 8 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place everything but the liquids in a large pot. Pour in the wine and enough chicken stock to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer and cook for 3 hours, until the meat falls off the bone and, in Henderson’s words, the trotters are “very wobbly.”

  2. Step 2

    Remove the trotters from the pot. Strain the stock. Pluck the meat, flesh and skin from the bones and chop. (There are a lot of bones.) Discard the bones. Stir the meat, flesh and skin back into the stock, then serve. Sealed into sterilized jars and refrigerated, your trotter gear should keep for 10 days or more. (According to “The Book of St. John,” there is no gray area; once your jelly turns into liquid it should no longer be used.) For increased longevity, pack your trotter gear into small batches, which can be frozen for up to 3 months.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
600 user ratings
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Comments

Edgar

I have yet to find a single shred of meat on a pig's foot. I cook with them all of the time. There is None. There is some meat on ham hocks and even more on a pork shank, but those are not feet. I would therefore respectfully ask people to stop talking about shredding the meat off of a pig's foot.

Sean

If you are pressed for time use a pressure cooker, it will bring the time down to under one hour and it will extract all the goodness and flavor from the ingredients.

Mary

I've been wanting to make this the entire pandemic and finally found myself in a Mexican grocery with pigs' feet - in mid-summer, oh well. I also just got Fergus Henderson's book, and there are some differences. It says "flesh, FAT & skin," and calls for 6 trotters, not 3, but the same amount of veg; he boils them first in water for 5 minutes, then drains (I couldn't believe the NYT recipe didn't say to skim the scum). Finally, he cooks it in a "gentle" oven for 3 hours, not on the stovetop.

Sandra Houts

About how many pounds are hois 3 trotters? The ones I bought today at an Asian market weigh 3+# each--more like hog's feet!

Siouxie

This is a terrific enhancement to have on hand for just about anything. I have also made wonderful versions using equivalent quantities of calves feet or chicken feet. Reduced further, it makes a great glace de viand.

Sam Collins

Why does the word “trotter” make me feel nauseous?

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