I haven’t had much by way of meat lately, but a pork chop loitering in my freezer grabbed my attention. And whilst it was defrosting, my subconscious was working overtime to come up with a recipe to do justice to my sage plant and a bottle of French cider acquired recently during a reconnaissance trip to Granada.

The combination works because Normandy cooking has always understood that pork and apple belong together — the acidity of the cider cuts through the richness of the chop, the shallots add sweetness, and the sage ties everything to the garden outside. The potato topping absorbs the cider stock as it bakes and comes out somewhere between a gratin and a pie lid. It is not a classic — I lived in France long enough to know that — but it is honest and it is good.

I used to live in France, so I know this is my made-up version, but at least the cider is from Normandy. The pork is Andalucian, but the shallots are from France. The sage is from my Andaluz patio.

Using a suitable casserole dish this is cooking for one…