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. 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.