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Rice Stuffing for Sucking Pig
Rice is frequently used as a stuffing for sucking pig, and also for breast of veal. To prepare it, boil the rice till it is quite tender, and dry it perfectly. Mix with it a fourth of its quantity in split peas, also boiled till soft and dried; flavour the mixture with pepper and salt and a little finely minced ham, beat it well, and it will be ready for use.
A late-Victorian forcemeat with no quantities at all, which is typical of Cassell's "Principles" section — the ratios matter more than the amounts.
- The ratio is the recipeFour parts cooked rice to one part cooked split peas, by volume. For a whole suckling pig figure on about 6 cups of cooked rice and 1½ cups of peas; for a breast of veal, roughly a third of that.
- Dry the rice properlyThis is the hinge. Wet rice steams inside the cavity and collapses into paste. Boil until fully tender, drain, then spread on a tray in a low oven (about 250F) or leave uncovered until the grains are separate and dry to the touch.
- Split peasYellow or green split peas, simmered until soft but not disintegrated, about 30-40 minutes unsoaked. Drain and dry them the same way as the rice. Canned or mushy peas will not hold their shape.
- "Beat it well"Beating is the binding step in period forcemeats, done by hand, spoon or mortar depending on the mixture. Here it partly crushes the peas so the mixture coheres — work it until it holds together when pressed, but stop before it turns to purée.
- The hamMinced very fine, and salty enough that you should season the mixture after adding it, not before. A dry-cured ham or prosciutto end does more for the flavour than cooked sandwich ham.
- BindingThe original relies on starch alone. If the mixture seems loose, an egg beaten in will hold it without changing the character of the stuffing.
- Cooking it inside the meatStuffing packed in a cavity insulates itself and lags well behind the roast. Fill loosely, and check that the centre of the stuffing reaches 165F before the joint comes to the table; cooking it separately in a covered dish avoids the problem entirely.
This is a formula rather than a dish — a cheap, absorbent filling for a cavity that would otherwise cook hollow. Suckling pig was a set-piece of the Victorian and Edwardian table, often stuffed with a breadcrumb and sage forcemeat; rice and split peas were the frugal alternative, both being pantry staples that swelled cheaply and soaked up the fat rendering from the animal. The same mixture recommended for breast of veal points to its real function: veal breast is a boned pocket that needs bulk, and rice supplied it at a fraction of the cost of veal forcemeat. Split peas were among the cheapest sources of protein in the British larder, long associated with pease pudding and the pea soup sold from street stalls, and their appearance here in a dish built around a whole roast pig illustrates how Victorian cookery mixed extravagance and economy.