MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

Title: Whole Roast Suckling Pig
Categories: Pork, Fruits, Herbs
Yield: 11 servings

20 lb Suckling pig
20 cl Garlic; peeled
1/2 c Oil
Coarse salt
1 sm Potato
1 sm Apple
1 bn (ea)(lavish) fresh rosemary,
- sage & bay leaves; (still
- on the branch if you can
- manage it), as garnish

Set oven @ 300°F/150°C.

PREPARE THE PIG: Wash it, including the cavity, under
cold running water, and towel-dry thoroughly, the way
you would dry a small child after a bath - ears,
armpits, chest cavity, face, legs, backs of knees.

Sometimes there are imperfections remaining after the
slaughtering and processing of the animal. Use dish
towels or sturdy paper towels to rub away any dark spots
on the ears, any little bit of remaining bristles around
the mouth. Like that yellow, papery flaking skin you
sometimes find on chickens, which can be peeled off to
reveal tender, fresh skin underneath, a similar bit of
crud can remain on pigs’ chins and under their belly
flaps. Clean this little cutie as if you were detailing
your car! The purple U.S.D.A. stamp, however, is
indelible. But not inedible.

Piquer the pig with all 20 garlic cloves, making deep
incisions all over with a thin filleting knife and
shoving the cloves into each pocket; include the cheeks
and the neck and the rump and the thighs and the loin
down the back and the front shoulders, all areas of the
small creature that have enough flesh to be able to
receive a clove of garlic. (Sometimes I find I have to
slice the larger cloves of garlic in half to get them to
slide into the incision.)

Rub the entire pig in oil exactly as you would apply
suntan oil to a sunbathing goddess of another era, when
people still were ignorant of the harmful effects of the
sun. Massage and rub and get the whole creature slick
and glistening. I do this directly in a very large
roasting pan.

Wash and dry your hands. Take large pinches of kosher
salt, and raising your arm high above the pig, rain down
the salt in an even, light dusting all over. You can
start with the pig on its back and get the cavity and
the crotch, and then turn it over and get the back and
the head and flanks. Or vice versa. But in the end, the
whole animal is salted evenly and lightly, snout to
tail.

Arrange the pig in the roasting pan, spine up, rear legs
tucked under, with feet pointing toward its ears and its
two front legs out ahead in front. Sometimes the pig
needs a sharp, sturdy, confident chiropractic crack on
its arching spine, just to settle it in comfortably to
the roasting pan, so it won’t list to one side or topple
over.

Put the potato deep into its mouth, and place in the
oven, on the bottom rack, and roast slowly for about 4
to 5 hours, depending on the size of your pig. (Plan 15
minutes of roasting time per pound of pig; for a
20-pounder, you’ll need about 5 hours total cooking
time.) Add a little water to the roasting pan along the
way if you see the juices are in danger of scorching,
and loosely tent the animal with aluminum foil in
vulnerable spots - ears, snout, arc of back - if you see
them burning. For the last half-hour, raise the oven
temperature to 450°F/232°C, and cook until the skin gets
crisp and even blistered, checking every 10 minutes.

Tap on it with your knuckle to hear a kind of hollow
sound, letting you know the skin has inflated and
separated from the interior flesh; observe splitting of
the skin at knuckles - all good signs the pig is done.
Or use a meat thermometer inserted deep in the neck; the
pig is ready at 160°F/71°C. Let rest 45 minutes before
serving.

Remove the potato, and replace it with the apple.

Transfer the pig to a large platter; nestle big bouquets
of herbs around the pig as garnish. Save pan juices, and
use for napping over the pulled meat when serving.

By Gabrielle Hamilton

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

RECIPE FROM: https://cooking.nytimes.com

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