Take particular care it be done enough: other meats under-done are unpleasant, but pork is absolutely uneatable; the sight of it is enough to appal the sharpest appetite, if its gravy has the least tint of redness.
Be careful of the crackling; if this be not crisp, or if it be burned, you will be scolded.
For sauces, [No. 300], [No. 304], and [No. 342].
Obs.—Pease pudding ([No. 555]) is as good an accompaniment to roasted, as it is to boiled pork; and most palates are pleased with the savoury powder set down in [No. 51], or bread-crumbs, mixed with sage and onion, minced very fine, or zest ([No. 255]) sprinkled over it.
N.B. “The western pigs, from Berks, Oxford, and Bucks, possess a decided superiority over the eastern, of Essex, Sussex, and Norfolk; not to forget another qualification of the former, at which some readers may smile, a thickness of the skin; whence the crackling of the roasted pork is a fine gelatinous substance, which may be easily masticated; while the crackling of the thin-skinned breeds is roasted into good block tin, the reduction of which would almost require teeth of iron.”—Moubray on Poultry, 1816, page 242.
A Leg,—(No. 50.)
Of eight pounds, will require about three hours: score the skin across in narrow stripes (some score it in diamonds), about a quarter of an inch apart; stuff the knuckle with sage and onion, minced fine, and a little grated bread, seasoned with pepper, salt, and the yelk of an egg. See Duck Stuffing, ([No. 61].)
Do not put it too near the fire: rub a little sweet oil on the skin with a paste-brush, or a goose-feather: this makes the crackling crisper and browner than basting it with dripping; and it will be a better colour than all the art of cookery can make it in any other way; and this is the best way of preventing the skin from blistering, which is principally occasioned by its being put too near the fire.
Leg of Pork roasted without the Skin, commonly called Mock Goose.[131-*]—(No. 51.)
Parboil it; take off the skin, and then put it down to roast; baste it with butter, and make a savoury powder of finely minced, or dried and powdered sage, ground black pepper, salt, and some bread-crumbs, rubbed together through a colander; you may add to this a little very finely minced onion: sprinkle it with this when it is almost roasted. Put half a pint of made gravy into the dish, and goose stuffing ([No. 378]) under the knuckle skin; or garnish the dish with balls of it fried or boiled.