The Epicure's Almanac or Diary of Good Living
August 28th : ROASTING PIG
If you desire to eat this dish in perfection, let your suckling be killed early in the morning of the day on which you mean to have him brought to table; but if my advice can have weight with you, let no persuasion on the part of the cook, backed as she may be even by the mistress of the house, induce you to send the animal to the oven. Roast, as you shall be directed, and after dinner read Charles Lamb's delightful paper on the subject, which will assist your digestion.
The butcher having left the pig properly prepared for the cook, the first thing to be done is to make some appropriate stuffing. An ounce and a half of onion finely chopped, two ounces of sage-leaf cut small, must
be mixed in five ounces of finely powdered bread crumbs, the yolk of an egg, a spoonful of salt, and a third of one of Cayenne pepper; fill the abdomen, “for belly is grown vulgar," with the stuffing, and sew it up.
As the extremities will require more fire than the middle, hang a flat-iron in the centre of your grate, and be sure to have a fine brisk fire for roasting ; an hour and a half will be time sufficient. Baste with fresh butter, or best Florence oil, the latter will insure a browner tint to your crackling, but some delicate eaters object to its use.
The most rigid attention must be paid to the pig whilst roasting; if left for a second it may be blistered or burnt, and very soon spoiled for the table. About ten minutes before the time has elapsed allowed for cooking, cut off the head, the body still remaining before the fire. Split the skull in half, take out the brains, and beat them up finely with a dozen sage leaves, previously boiled and chopped small; this can be moistened into sauce with the juices that followed the cutting off of the head, if the cook has been prudent enough to place a basin under the neck.
Split the body down the back, lay the sides flat upon a dish, with half the head at the top, and the other half at the bottom. Serve with currant sauce, and a sauce-boatful of good gravy.