Roast Pig
When roasted whole, a pig should not be under four nor over six weeks old. In town, the butcher prepares for roasting, but it is well to know, in the country, how this may be done. As soon as the pig is killed, throw it into a tub of cold water, to make it tender; as soon as cold, take it by the hind leg, and plunge into scalding, not boiling water (as the last cooks the skin so that the hair can with difficulty be removed), shake it about until the hair can be removed by the handful. When all that is possible has been taken off in this way, rub from the tail up to the end of the nose with a coarse cloth. Take off the hoofs, scrape and wash the ears and nose until perfectly clean. The nicest way to dress it is to hang it by the hind legs, open and take out the entrails; wash well with water, with a little soda dissolved in it; rinse again and again, and leave hanging an hour. Wrap in a coarse cloth wrung out of cold water and lay on ice or in a cool cellar until next morning, when, if the weather is warm, it must be cooked. It should never be used the same day that it is killed.
First prepare the stuffing of the liver, heart and haslets of the pig, stewed, seasoned, and chopped. Mix with these an equal quantity of boiled potatoes mashed; add a large spoonful of butter, with some hard-boiled eggs, parsley and thyme, chopped fine, pepper and salt.
Scald the pig on the inside, dry it and rub with pepper and salt, fill and sew up. Bend the fore legs under the body, the hind legs forward, under the pig, and skewer to keep in position. Place in a large baking-pan, pour over one quart of boiling water. Have a lump of fresh butter tied up in a clean rag; rub it all over the pig, then sprinkle over pepper and salt, putting some in the pan with a bunch of herbs; invert over it a baking-pan while it simmers, and steam until entirely done. Underdone pork, shoat, or pig, is both unpalatable and unwholesome. Remove the pan, rub over with the butter and baste often. When of a fine brown, cover the edges of a large dish with a deep fringe of curled parsley; first sift over the pig powdered cracker, then place it, kneeling, in the green bed. Place in its month an orange or a red apple; and, if eaten hot, serve with the gravy in a tureen or sauce-boat. It is much nicer cold; served with little mounds of grated horseradish amongst the parsley.--Mrs. S. T.
A whole suckling pig, from slaughter through to the garnished platter. Most of the first half is butchering instruction that a modern cook will skip entirely, since pigs of this size come dressed and hollow from a farm or a specialty butcher, usually to order.
- Size and fitA pig of four to six weeks dresses out at roughly 15-25 lb. Measure your oven before ordering: a pig much over 20 lb may not fit a standard domestic oven. The recipe has the fore legs bent under and the hind legs brought forward and skewered to keep them in position.
- The hinge: steam first, brown secondThe inverted second pan is the whole method. Covered, with a quart of boiling water beneath, the pig steams through gently; uncovered and basted, the skin dries and crisps. Reverse the order and the skin blisters and blackens long before the shoulders are cooked.
- Oven heatNo temperature is given because none could be. Roast covered at about 325F, then uncover for the final browning at 425F. Timing varies widely with the size of the animal; go by the thermometer, not the clock.
- Doneness"Underdone pork, shoat, or pig, is both unpalatable and unwholesome" is sound. Take the thickest part of the shoulder and ham to 160F; the stuffing, which contains cooked offal and egg, should reach 165F. Shield the ears, snout and tail with foil once they colour.
- HasletsThe haslet or pluck is the heart, liver and lungs. Lungs cannot legally be sold for food in the United States, so build the stuffing from heart and liver alone, or from liver and a little ground pork.
- Soda and scalding waterThe "little soda" is washing soda or baking soda, used as a degreasing rinse on the body cavity. The scalding water for hair removal wants to be around 145-150F; genuinely boiling water sets the skin and the bristles will not pull.
- ChillingAn hour hanging, then wrapped in a wet cloth on ice or in a cool cellar overnight; the recipe itself allows for warm weather, in which case it insists the pig be cooked the next morning. A carcass of this size must be brought below 40F promptly and held there; if you are not equipped to chill a whole pig quickly, buy it already chilled.
- Powdered crackerFinely crushed plain soda or water crackers, sifted over the hot skin as a coating. Fine dry breadcrumbs do the same job.
- The applePut the orange or apple in the mouth after roasting, not before, and prop the jaw open with a ball of foil during cooking. Serves 12-18, and the recipe is right that it is better cold, with horseradish.
Housekeeping in Old Virginia (1879), compiled by Marion Cabell Tyree, gathered contributions from some 250 Virginia housekeepers, which is why the recipe closes with initials rather than a name. Roast suckling pig came to the American South by way of English practice, and the elaborate presentation here, kneeling in a fringe of curled parsley with fruit in its mouth, follows English service of the dish. What marks this version as a household manual written for a rural reader rather than a town cookbook is the assumption that the reader may have to scald and dress the animal herself: the text says plainly that "in town, the butcher prepares for roasting," and then explains the country alternative anyway.