Pork tenderloin is the most tender cut of pork (In beef, it's what is called filet mignon.) At the butcher shop or grocery store, choose pork that's pale pink. The older the animal, the darker the meat. It should have a bit of marbling and white, not yellow fat. When you get the meat home, remove it from the package. Exercise care as with any uncooked meat and wash everything that touches it. Refrigerate it, wrapped loosely in fresh plastic or wax paper for no more than 2 days.
Now did you know this?
When a recipe says to allow the meat to "rest" it means to delay cutting the meat for a few minutes after taking it out of the oven. During this time, the juices settle into the meat fiber. Without this resting period, the juices run out too freely when the meat is cut and some of the flavor leaches away.
Also, a tinfoil tent keeps the meat from cooling too much while it rests. In a pinch, if you don't have tinfoil, make a tent from a torn-open paper bag.
