But, we talkin' cookin', and de Emperor don' got some nothin' on de Cajun, I tell you. Mon cher, we gon' start w one scored (that's cut thru to de the skin) big hamhock, then add some bay leaf an' some cayenne, sometime some lil salt and fresh black, cook dat all down an' make some good pork stock, 'bout 40 minut. 3-quart saucepan, rat?
While we waitin' on dat, we gonna cook some good bacon over low heat, render all de good oil. Then, same big skillet, we gonna sear some rib side pork loin in dot oil (cut into bite-size), spice it w/a little cayennem, an' set dot aside too, mo' better.
Then, we take was left of dot good bacon oil, add a lil mo' if we need, an' in a big pot make de roux, lil white flour at a time, stir, stir, stir. 'Bout 25 minut (Emeril says ''2 beers'', dot's crap...25 minut is at least 3 beer on de bayou), de roux become chocolat, dot color, eh, boo.
Den we chop de onion, de celerie, de bell pepper, 2 to 1 to 1, cook dem down 4 minut in de roux, dey gon' suck dot roux up lak a politician suckin' money, cher, so don' take no phone calls rat den. Add about 10 clove of de garlic, goodan chop, cook dot some more 4 minut.
Now, we chop up some good Andouille sausage, you bet, pour the hamhock stock into de big pot, add de sausage and BOIL for 4-5 minut, we wan' dot good Andouille oil to form a skim grease. We lower de heat, add back de bacon and pork loin...and de secret spice mix (lil cayenne, fresh crack black, whole lotta cumin and thyme, 15-20 fine fine chop clove de garlic...maybe a lil gumbo file <<-- dot's accent grave on de file, cher, rat?)
Den we drop de heat, cover 10-15 minut while we make de rice.
You don' eat no bettah yo' whole life, I gar-on-tee!
(With any apologies due to my old tutor, Louis d'Auberge Messarveaux...what a great chap and a WONDERFUL cook!)
Want something to taste good? Cook it up in pork fat! Want it taste even better? First put it in the right marinade -- for hours! Or days! Take chicken for instance -- soak the pieces in buttermilk overnight, then roll it in the flour (salt, pepper, crushed cornflakes, spices, whatever), then cook it up in gently bubbling pork fat in your giant cast iron skillet (shame on you, if you ain't got one!). The trick is to get just the right blend of gooey and crunchy. Gotta turn those pieces gently, too -- no flipping! Then surround it with your sides of fried potatoes, Texas red sauce, collards, black eyes, etc. Another sneak preview of heaven!