Secreto Iberico with Quince, Rocket and Manchego Cheese

Secreto Iberico is becoming a more popular meat cut with chefs and restaurants. Widely used in the South of Spain, secreto which translates to ‘secret’ is an off-cut from the top extreme of the lap and next to the loin’s top. In the traditional quartering of meat it is joined to the loin’s fat or hoja de tocino. The actual cut is small and thin, so it is hard to locate on the pig, hence the name. Iberico pork meat is famed for its beautiful marbling and no other cut displays this more deliciously than the secreto. While it comes from the shoulder area, it has a lot of similarities to a tender skirt steak, it should always be flash-fried or grilled on a medium to high heat and served pink. In this recipe, I pair its delicious creamy flavour with sweet quince paste and some grated manchego cheese for a quick and easy tapas recipe.