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Roast Pork with Crackling

4 servings

Ingredients

• 2.25 kg Rib piece, carré, neck or leg from a young pig
• Salt (a little)
• Water (a little)

Instructions

1. As with all oven roasts, it is better to roast a larger piece, at least 2 to 2½ kg – leftovers can be reheated later, but also taste particularly good cold as a side dish to vegetables or as cold cuts.
2. Use a rib piece, carré, a piece of neck, or a leg from a young pig, as the rind on an older animal is too thick and can easily become hard when roasted.
3. Leave the skin on the roast and, after washing the meat thoroughly, use a sharp knife to cut long, narrow strips across the roast.
4. Then cut these strips lengthwise several times so that the entire skin is divided into elongated, square strips.
5. Salt the roast and place it skin-side down in a pan with boiling water to soften the rind.
6. Turn it over after some time, without piercing it.
7. Roast thoroughly, basting frequently, for a total of 2 to 3 hours, or longer for a very large roast.
8. If the sauce reduces too much, add more boiling water from the side.
9. The roast must cook slowly, so the oven should only be moderately hot.
10. Skim off the rendered fat from time to time to prevent it from splattering in the oven.
11. Also, scrape the brown pan drippings from the pan and let them cook with the sauce; this usually makes the sauce so creamy that no potato starch is needed.
12. In the last half hour, only baste the sides of the roast so that the top becomes very crispy.

Modernized from a treasured 19th-century German cookbook.