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Stuffing for Sucking Pigs (Pig is always stuffed)
339. The pig is always stuffed with some kind of stuffing containing sage, a good receipt for which is, to take a quarter of a pound of crumbs of bread, one onion, a small handful of sage, a raw egg, and a small piece of butter; these should be well mixed together with a little pepper and salt. Then fill the belly of the pig, and sew up with a common needle and thread. Another plan is to cut a round of bread thick, as for toast, brown it very lightly, and butter it, then soak it in some water in which a handful of sage and an onion have been boiled, cut it into long pieces, and lay it in the belly, with alternate layers of the boiled sage leaves, but no onion, after which it is to be closed as above.
A plain sage-and-onion stuffing of the mid-Victorian type, given in two versions: a bound crumb stuffing and an older bread-and-sage layering. Both are sized for a whole suckling pig, so the quantities want scaling for anything smaller.
- Quantities in modern termsA quarter pound of bread crumbs is about 2 packed cups of fresh soft crumbs, not dried packaged crumb. A "small handful" of sage means roughly 2 tablespoons chopped fresh leaves, or about 2 teaspoons dried.
- Scale it to the bird or jointThis makes roughly a couple of cups of mixture, the right order for a small suckling pig or a large loin. For a chicken or a smaller joint, reduce it accordingly.
- Cook the onion firstThe onion goes in raw here. In a stuffing that sits inside a carcass it will stay sharp and slightly crunchy; sweating it in the butter for five minutes first gives a softer, sweeter result.
- The egg is the hingeOne raw egg binds a quarter pound of crumbs into a sliceable mass rather than a loose crumb. If you are baking the stuffing separately in a dish, keep the egg and add a spoonful or two of stock so it does not dry out.
- Temperature, not timeStuffing packed inside a large carcass is the slowest part of the roast to heat. Take it to 165F on an instant-read thermometer pushed into the centre of the cavity; if the meat is done before the stuffing is, the safer course is to bake the stuffing in a separate dish.
- Sewing upUse butcher's twine and a trussing needle rather than ordinary sewing thread, which scorches and cuts through hot skin. Skewers laced with twine work as well and are easier to remove at the table.
- The second methodThe alternative is a different approach: toasted buttered bread soaked in sage-and-onion water, layered with the boiled leaves. It gives a lighter, less pudding-like result, and tastes distinctly of boiled rather than fresh sage.
- Sage restraintTaste a pinch of the raw mixture before it goes in; sage is the one element here that easily overwhelms the pork.