Salt-Encrusted Pork Loin (Recipe)

At a recent event there was a demonstration of a few recipes.  One really caught my attention... it was for 'salt crusted' pork tenderloin.

I'd heard of this cooking method but had never had a chance to sample anything cooked this way.  I wasn't sure if it would be too salty for my tastes.  So I was very excited to be able to observe how it is done.

This is the loin just out of the oven.  The crust has cracked open a bit.

The empty crust 'shell'.

The finished pork loin was plated for us to sample.  The sear kept the salt from getting down into the meat, so it was not too salty.  And it was very moist; which is the point of the salt crust.  If you wish, you can wrap the meat in culinary cheese cloth or layer something like herbs or cabbage over it.  The herb idea would really tasty too.

So, it ended up that I did like the loin cooked in the salt crust.  I'm going to try it at home with other meats such as chicken and fish.