Our pork is Porc Plein Air, the open-air line of Porc Qualité Ardenne (PQA), the Ardennes quality cooperative. PQA runs several tiers; plein air, where the pigs genuinely live outdoors, is the smallest and strictest. Only a handful of farms do it. Most quality Ardennes pork is fermier or organic; true open-air is rarer still, and that is the one we chose. The pigs live outside, with air, light and room to move, on a natural diet and no antibiotics. They grow more slowly, and it shows in the colour, the texture and the flavour. The cooperative slaughters close to the farms, with care for the animals.