parsley, celery leaves, or evergreen boughs for garnish
Directions
Take the largest roaster your oven will hold and ask the
butcher to lace the snout and feet with string so the pig
can be tied up to fit the pan
The pig should have clean
ears, be free of hair, and be accompanied by haslets or
organs-liver, heart, and lungs
Rinse the pig inside and
out with cold water and pat dry
Keep it cold while
preparing broth and stuffing.
To make gravy broth, simmer haslets in 2 cups of
water in saucepan
After about 20 minutes, remove the
liver and chop it fine to add to the stuffing.
To prepare stuffing, put dry bread crumbs or slices in a
dishtowel and pound them into fine crumbs with a mal-
let or rolling pin
Put coarsely chopped onions into a
skillet and fry until limp in 3 tablespoons of the butter
Combine crumbs, onions, and sage in large bowl.
In small bowl beat eggs and stir in cider
Add chopped
parsley, nutmeg, and mace, and blend into crumb mix-
ture
Stir in chopped liver
Preheat oven to 350F.
Spoon the stuffing loosely into the pig's cavity and
close the opening with skewers and lacing
Draw the
head and back feet together with butcher's string and tie
it
Place the pig in the roaster, and rub all skin surfaces
generously with remaining butter
With a sharp knife
slash the back skin in several places to permit fat to
escape
Use wood block or small can to prop mouth
open during roasting
Add 1 cup of boiling water to pan
and place pig and pan in preheated oven.
Baste pig with pan juices after an hour
In another 30
minutes check for browning
When top side is thor-
oughly browned, turn pig over (a two-person job) and
continue roasting
The pig is done when fully browned
and when skin begins to shrink and break.
While the pig is roasting, chill the haslet broth and
remove fat from the surface
Blend flour into the broth.
At serving time remove pig to large platter or board and
cut away string
If suitable for display, replace mouth
prop with the apple
Garnish platter with greens.
Skim pan gravy of excess fat and stir in floured broth
Heat and stir until gravy is thick and smooth
Season to
taste and transfer to gravy bowl.
At the table, start carving by cutting off the pig's head
Next run the knife down the spine and lay the body open
in two halves
