Mode.—Score the skin in strips rather more than 1/4 inch apart, and place the joint at a good distance from the fire, on account of the crackling, which would harden before the meat would be heated through, were it placed too near. If very lean, it should be rubbed over with a little salad oil, and kept well basted all the time it is at the fire. Pork should be very thoroughly cooked, but not dry; and be careful never to send it to table the least underdone, as nothing is more unwholesome and disagreeable than underdressed white meats. Serve with apple sauce, No. 363, and a little gravy made in the dripping-pan. A stuffing of sage and onion may be made separately, and baked in a flat dish: this method is better than putting it in the meat, as many persons have so great an objection to the flavour.
Time.—A loin of pork weighing 5 lbs., about 2 hours: allow more time should it be very fat.
Average cost, 9d. per lb.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from September to March.
FOSSIL REMAINS OF THE HOG.—In British strata, the oldest fossil remains of the hog which Professor Owen states that he has examined, were from fissures in the red crag (probably miocene) of Newbourne, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. "They were associated with teeth of an extinct felis about the size of a leopard, with those of a bear, and with remains of a large cervus. These mammalian remains were found with the ordinary fossils of the red crag: they had undergone the same process of trituration, and were impregnated with the same colouring matter as the associated bones and teeth of fishes acknowledged to be derived from the regular strata of the red crag. These mammaliferous beds have been proved by Mr. Lyell to be older than the fluvio-marine, or Norwich crag, in which remains of the mastodon, rhinoceros, and horse have been discovered; and still older than the fresh-water pleistocene deposits, from which the remains of the mammoth, rhinoceros, &c. are obtained in such abundance. I have met," says the professor, in addition, "with some satisfactory instances of the association of fossil remains of a species of hog with those of the mammoth, in the newer pliocene freshwater formations of England."
TO DRY PIGS' CHEEKS.
830. INGREDIENTS.—Salt, 4 oz. of saltpetre, 2 oz. of bay-salt, 4 oz. of coarse sugar.
Mode.—Cut out the snout, remove the brains, and split the head, taking off the upper bone to make the jowl a good shape; rub it well with salt; next day take away the brine, and salt it again the following day; cover the head with saltpetre, bay-salt, and coarse sugar, in the above proportion, adding a little common salt. Let the head be often turned, and when it has been in the pickle for 10 days, smoke it for a week or rather longer.
Time.—To remain in the pickle 10 days; to be smoked 1 week.