Daval

Hey Folks,
My father has asked me to make a 'crackling roast pork' dish for Christmas. He's from England and this is traditional for him. I've made roasted pork picnic shoulders with a nice crackling on it but I was thinking of something more along the lines of a pork belly. I've never actually worked with this before.

One of my suppliers has very good berkshire pork that I could use - is this worth it- or is there not a huge difference to the regular supermarket variety I could get at 1/3rd of the cost. I know with 'meatier' cuts there is a big difference but not sure with belly's

Also, does anyone have a good recipe for me?

Cheers,
Dave

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"It is impossible to obtain a conviction for sodomy from an English jury. Half of them don't believe that it can physically be done, and the other half are doing it."
Winston Churchill

Daniel_

The key thing is to get the skin very dry, and score it half way through in a diamond pattern. Oil it and salt it VERY well, and put it into a really hot oven (your highest setting) for the first 30 minutes, before turning it down to a medium hot roast until the juice runs clear.

Take the meat out to rest for 10-15 minutes, and if the skin's not soufleed up, carefully cut it off the meat, whack the oven back up to maximum, and stick the skin on a wire rack at the top of the oven, with a tray under to catch the fat that will drip.

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