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Pig, Sucking, Galantine Of
Scald and clean the pig, split it open, lay it flat upon a table, and bone it carefully. The head may be cut off, if desired: if left on it should not be boned. Make as much good veal stuffing as can be spread evenly and thinly over the pig. Place upon this, in layers, thin slices of tongue, hard-boiled eggs, truffles, fat bacon, and ham, and cover the whole with another layer of veal forcemeat. Roll the pig tightly, so as not to displace the forcemeat, etc., bind it firmly with strips of tape, cover with a soft cloth, and sew up securely. Boil as much nicely-seasoned stock as will cover the pig, put with it, if liked, a glassful of sherry, and simmer gently until the tape becomes loose. Let the galantine grow cold in the liquor in which it was boiled, then lift it out, and boil the stock quickly until it is sufficiently reduced to form a jelly when cold, clear it with white of egg, and pour it over the meat. Some cooks place a weight upon the galantine until it is cold, and then either glaze it or cover it with bread raspings. Time to boil the galantine, five hours or more. Probable cost, 12s. to 15s. Sufficient for a large breakfast, luncheon, or supper dish.
A full Victorian galantine: a whole boned suckling pig, layered with forcemeat and garnishes, rolled, poached and set in its own jelly. Nothing here is difficult, but almost everything is large, and the rolling is the step that decides whether it slices cleanly.
- The hinge: roll tight, and tie tighterA galantine that is loosely rolled will show gaps and fall apart when carved cold. Roll away from you with steady pressure so the forcemeat is compressed against the skin, tie at 1-inch intervals with butcher's twine (standing in for the "tape" of the original), then wrap in a cloth and stitch. The instruction to simmer until the tape becomes loose is a rough cue rather than a measurement; use a probe instead and take the centre to 160-165F.
- Sourcing the pigA suckling pig is a special order from a butcher, usually with several days' notice; the ones sold for this purpose commonly run somewhere between 10 and 20 lb. Ask for it scalded, gutted and split, and ask whether they will bone it: boning a whole piglet flat is slow, careful knife work under the ribs and along the spine, and a practised butcher will be much faster at it than you.
- Veal stuffingThe "veal forcemeat" meant here is ground veal worked with pork fat or fat bacon, breadcrumbs soaked in milk or stock, egg, and seasoning of mace, nutmeg, lemon zest, parsley and pepper. It should be soft enough to spread but not wet. For a pig this size expect to need 3-4 lb of forcemeat in total, split between the two layers.
- Truffles and tongueFresh truffles are optional theatre; preserved truffle or a good truffle paste in the forcemeat gives the same perfume for a fraction of the cost. "Tongue" means cooked, pressed ox tongue, sold at delicatessen counters in slices. Pistachios, a period favourite, are a reasonable stand-in for the truffle layer.
- The vesselA rolled suckling pig will be a couple of feet long. A fish kettle or a wide, deep roasting pan set over two burners is the practical answer; a stockpot will not take it lying down. If the roll does not fit, cut the boned pig in two before stuffing and make two shorter galantines.
- Cooling in the liquorCooling a large mass of meat in warm stock on a Victorian larder shelf took it slowly through the temperature range where bacteria multiply. Cool it fast instead: set the pan in a sink of iced water, and once the stock is below about 70F move the whole thing to the refrigerator. Press under a weighted board there, not at room temperature.
- The jellyA stock made from the pig's own bones will set without help. Reduce the poaching liquor by half or more, test a spoonful on a cold plate, and clarify with lightly beaten egg white and a little of the reduced stock: bring it slowly to a bare simmer without stirring, let the raft form, then ladle through a cloth. Chill in a thin layer at a time over the meat.
- Bread raspingsRaspings are dried breadcrumbs, traditionally the rasped crust of stale bread, dried out in a slow oven until brittle and then crushed fine. They give a matte coat where glaze gives a shine; the recipe offers them as alternative finishes.
- Yield and cost"Sufficient for a large breakfast, luncheon, or supper dish" means a buffet centrepiece, served cold in thin slices to a substantial party. The 12s. to 15s. is Victorian money, and it marks this out as an expensive dish for a household with a cook and a cool larder.
Galantine is a French cold-larder technique rather than a single dish: a bird or a small animal boned, stuffed, rolled in its own skin, poached in stock and served cold in jelly. The word is generally traced to the Old French galatine, a jellied sauce, and by the nineteenth century it had come to mean the whole construction. Its virtue was practical: everything is cooked and set the day before, and a boned roll carves into neat rounds with no bone and no waste. Suckling pig, roasted whole with an apple, was the older festive form; boning it flat and rolling it was the professional cook's way of turning the same animal into something that could be sliced.