Rillettes

Rillettes is about as old-school a dish as you can get—and a tragically hard-to-find one. Seeing it on the menu at Les Halles, when I first applied to work there, was like finding an old friend. It gets right to the heart of what’s good: pork, pork fat, salt, and pepper. Easy and cheap to make, it’s one of the great casual starters of all time. Just shape into an attractive round or square, comb the top with a fork, and dig in. Smeared on toasted baguette croutons and enjoyed with cocktails