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Pork, Roast Griskin of
INGREDIENTS. - Pork; a little powdered sage.
AVERAGE COST, 8d. per lb.
As this joint frequently comes to table hard and dry, particular care should be GRISKIN OF PORK. taken that it is well basted. Put it down to a bright fire, and flour it. About 10 minutes before taking it up, sprinkle over some powdered sage; make a little gravy in the dripping-pan, strain it over the meat and serve with a tureen of apple sauce.
This joint will be done in far less time than when the skin is left on, consequently, should have the greatest attention that it Cut the cutlets from a loin, or fore-loin of pork; trim them the same as mutton be not dried up. PORK, HASHED.
TIME. Griskin of pork weighing 6 lbs., 1½ hour.
SEASONABLE from September to March.
SPARE RIB OF PORK.
Note. A spare-rib of pork is roasted in the same manner as above, and would take 1 hour for one weighing about 6 lbs.
A griskin is the lean strip along the backbone left after the fat has been cut away for bacon — essentially a skinless pork loin end. The whole point of the recipe is moisture management, because there is no skin or fat cap to protect the meat.
- What a griskin isThe chine or backbone end of the loin, sold trimmed of its fat and rind. A boneless centre-cut pork loin roast of about 3 lb is the closest modern equivalent; a rack of loin chops left whole also works.
- The hinge: it dries outBeeton's warning is the whole recipe. With no skin, the joint has nothing to shield it, so bard it with a sheet of pork back fat or streaky bacon, or oil it heavily and baste every 15 minutes.
- Bright fire to oven"Put it down to a bright fire" means spit-roasting in front of open coals. In an oven, start at 425F for 15 minutes to colour the flour coating, then drop to 350F for the remainder.
- Timing and temperatureThe stated 1½ hours for 6 lb works out at about 15 minutes per pound, short by modern reckoning for an oven though plausible before a fierce open fire. Cook to an internal temperature of 145F at the thickest point and rest 10 minutes; pork loin taken well beyond that tends to the "hard and dry" result she is trying to avoid.
- FlouringDredging with flour before roasting gives a crust and helps thicken the pan drippings. A light dusting is enough — a thick coat turns pasty.
- The sageAdded only in the last 10 minutes because dried sage scorches and turns bitter over a long roast. Rubbed sage clings better than ground.
- Gravy in the dripping-panPour a little water or light stock into the roasting tin, scrape up the browned residue over heat, strain, and spoon over the carved meat. It is a thin jus, not a thickened gravy.
- YieldA 3 lb boneless loin serves six; a 6 lb bone-in joint serves eight to ten. Apple sauce, as she says, is not optional in the English tradition.
The griskin belongs to the economy of the bacon pig. When a side was cured, the lean eye of muscle along the spine was cut out and sold separately — 8d. a pound here. Its name is generally traced to the older English grice, a young pig. The joint's reputation for toughness comes directly from that thrift: what would have kept it succulent had already gone into the bacon crock, which is why the instruction to baste well outranks every other line in the recipe. The seasonable note — September to March — reflects the old rhythm of killing pigs in cold weather, before refrigeration made pork a year-round meat.