The roast pig was, as it is now fashionable to say, " status» food. Recall how A. S. Pushkin in " Captain's daughter"Putted into the mouth of one of the Cossacks an opinion about Emelyan Pugachev:" It is clear from everything that the person is noble: at dinner he deigned to eat two roast pigs. That is, in the common people's view, a roasted pig on the table was a sign of a high position in society and wealth.
Here is advice on choosing the right roast pig from a women's magazine in 1913, as well as a roast pig recipe that we found in an 1897 cookbook and rewritten according to today's recipe rules.
How to choose a pig for roasting
If you decide to serve a roast pig to your guests, then you need to know how to choose good provisions. " Magazine for housewives”in one of the issues of 1913 he says that first you need to decide whether to take a fresh or frozen pig. Frozen piglets are cheaper, but, tempted by the cheapness of a frozen piglet in front of a steam one, the housewives do not take into account that the inside of a frozen piglet is filled with ice, and when defrosted, the weight of a piglet can even decrease by one third. Thus, often the price of an ice-cream pig is almost equal to the price of a pair.
The freshness of the meat of a steam piglet is determined as follows: The place of injection or cut should have a red, or rather scarlet color of blood. It is recommended when buying ... pay attention to its insides: the kidneys should be covered with fat (whitish coating), and the incision of the abdomen for almost a quarter of a finger should be covered with a layer of fat, twice the thickness of the skin».
When buying an ice cream pig, one must be doubly careful, because "when freezing, the poor quality of meat can be hidden." The place of the injection wound should be “scarlet, light pink, but in no case brick” ( which shows that the piglet is stale or even frozen a second time). The abdomen section should have fat half a finger thick, and the neck section should have fresh, white, a quarter finger thickness.
Roast pig - 1897 recipe
Recipe taken from Explanatory cookbook» by P. A. Andreeva, published in Moscow in 1897. The dish is designed for 4 people. If guests are invited in larger numbers, then increase the weight of the piglet and add other ingredients ( but not more than one and a half times, and if there are more guests, then cook a few piglets of a young age and the appropriate size).
“Having cleaned and gutted the piglet, soak it for three hours in milk. Remove, wipe, rub with salt, let lie down for half an hour. Dissolve on a baking sheet 2 tbsp. l. oil, put the piglet and fry, turning from side to side, pouring oil first, when reddened - water (just up to a glass), and then - its own juice, and piercing with a fork. Fry, depending on the size - from 45 minutes to 1 hour.
If you want to serve the stuffed piglet, then, after salting and letting it mature, fill it with the following minced meat: after cleaning 1 pound of veal liver from films and lived, fry it in 1 tbsp. l. oil with 1 finely chopped onion, mix it with the crumb of soaked in water and squeezed white bread, put ¾ teaspoon of salt, ¼ - ½ teaspoon of fine pepper, ¼ grated nutmeg, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of table or butter, 2 eggs if you wish, 2-3 anchovies and 3-4 truffles or boiled champignons, finely chop, fill the inside of the pig, sew it up and then proceed as mentioned above. When serving, sprinkle with chopped parsley.
For convenience, we offer a modern interpretation of the ingredients:
- piglet weighing 1.5-1.7 kg
- 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil
- 200 g butter
- bunch of parsley
For filling:
- 450 g veal liver
- 1 small loaf of wheat bread
- 1 large onion
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ grated nutmeg
- 20 g butter
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 2-3 anchovies
- 3-4 fried large white mushrooms
Bake for 45-60 minutes until ready at 150-180ºС. Constantly watch that the piglet is not overcooked.
In this recipe, it is recommended to turn the pig from side to side for frying. However, in other versions of the recipe, it is recommended to immediately put the piglet on top of the back if you later serve it whole (sometimes served in slices). You can sprinkle the stuffed pig with salt and pour with olive (Provencal) oil before sending it to the oven to form a crisp. Don't forget to pull the string out of the pig's breast before serving. The piglet can be served in a gravy boat with the juice formed during frying on a baking sheet.
Piglet meat is considered the easiest to bake. Even for a beginner, the baked carcass will turn out to be very juicy and soft, all thanks to the presence of fat and the youthfulness of the meat. You can rub the carcass with just salt and pepper, or you can add flavors of wine and citrus fruits - it will come out delicious in both cases. We will talk in detail about how to cook a whole suckling pig in the oven later.
Whole Oven Suckling Pig Recipe
We offer to start with the simplest recipe, for which the carcass is pre-salted for a day, and only then sent to the oven. As a result, you will get the purest taste of the product and juicy meat.
Ingredients:
- pig carcass - 7.5-8 kg;
- water - 1.4 l;
- salt - 6 1/2 tbsp.;
- granulated sugar - 4 1/2 tbsp.;
- vegetable oil - 115 ml.
Cooking
First, be sure to gut and rinse the carcass thoroughly. As a rule, this procedure is done for you by a butcher. Now for a simple marinade for suckling pig in the oven: if you have a container that can hold the carcass of an 8 kg piglet, great, otherwise use several tight bags. Dissolve the salt and sugar in water, pour the brine into bags or a container, and then place the pig in it. Leave the carcass for a day, not forgetting to turn it over twice on the other side for even salting.
Dry the salted carcass. You can fill your belly and mouth with wads of foil, but many people bake a suckling pig in the oven with buckwheat, rice and other cereals, and put a medium-sized apple in their mouth - the choice is yours.
Having given the carcass the desired position, completely cover it with foil and place in an oven preheated to 120 degrees for 3 hours. Next, remove the foil, grease the pig with oil and return to the oven, the temperature of which is brought to 200 degrees. Bake for an additional 45-55 minutes, brushing the skin with oil every 15 minutes. If the ears or snout of a suckling pig start to burn in the oven, wrap them in foil. At the end of baking, leave the carcass to stand for 20 minutes before cutting.
In this recipe, pre-marinating the carcass is not required, and we will fill the belly of the piglet with bread stuffing prepared in the English manner and designed to absorb all the meat juices that stand out.
Ingredients:
- medium-sized carcass of a piglet;
- red onion - 310 g;
- - 10 g;
- red wine - 340 ml;
- 1/2 loaf of bread;
- garlic - 3 cloves;
- sage leaves - 6 pcs.
Cooking
Before baking a suckling pig in the oven, prepare the stuffing for it. For the filling, let the onion half rings in goose fat (can be replaced with butter), until caramelized, about half an hour. Pour everything with red wine and simmer until the liquid has almost completely evaporated. Mix with marmalade cubes of yesterday's bread and 
add garlic paste and sage leaves to everything.
Now fill the eviscerated belly of the suckling pig with the bread mixture and rub the outside generously with salt, butter and pepper. Lay the pig out, stretching its back and front legs, insert a lump of foil into its mouth. Place the baking sheet with the carcass in an oven preheated to 160 degrees. Cooking a suckling pig in the oven will take from 3-3.5 hours, depending on its initial weight. Ultimately, the meat should be soft enough to disintegrate under the pressure of the knife. During cooking, make sure that the parts of the piglet do not burn, if necessary, covering the ears and snout with foil.
People many centuries ago understood a lot about food. On the occasion of a big celebration, they tried to cook the most delicious and perhaps that is why a roasted pig often stood on the festive table of the kings. To appreciate this dish, you need to know how to cook it correctly.
The most natural option
At the time when cookbooks were just beginning to be published, there were no ovens or microwaves. Then the roasted pig could be prepared only in the most ancient way.
For this, a skewer and an open fire were used. Nowadays, this option is used during a picnic. From the products you will need the carcass of the animal itself, salt with spices or a pre-prepared marinade. All actions must be done clearly and in a timely manner:
- First you need to make a fire and let the firewood burn out.
- Before baking, the carcass must be prepared. This is easy to do in two ways. First, marinate. Secondly, rub with salt and seasonings.
- Then take the prepared carcass and put it on a skewer. You should start with the tail. The rod must pass near the spine so that the piglet does not turn.
- Set the skewer with the pig on the stand and do not forget to turn it periodically. Otherwise, a bubble may form on the skin, which, bursting, will spoil the appearance of the dish.
A roasted pig is considered ready when the knife will easily pass through the meat to the very bones, and blood will not ooze from the hole formed.
Meat without frills
The meat dishes prepared in the villages are very tasty. In the villages, the hostesses acted in this way only:
- Before starting work, the carcass had to be sprinkled with flour and singeed so that no bristles remained on it.
- After this, the piglet needs to be cleaned, freed from the insides and marinated for 5-6 hours. As a brine, a solution is suitable, which includes salt, vinegar, pepper, bay leaf, spices, as well as garlic or onions.
- Then the carcass must be laid on a metal sheet. Today there is a pan for this. From above, it is better to coat the skin with vegetable oil, and wrap the ears and patch with foil.
- The cooking process takes at least 3 hours. During this time, it is necessary to constantly monitor the condition of the upper layer, watering it with the secreted juice.
The baked pig is very tender and fragrant. Before serving, it can be decorated with fresh herbs, vegetables or fruits. Any of these options will be successful.
Cuisines of different countries
Interestingly, a whole roasted piglet is considered a signature and almost national dish. It is served in all cafes and restaurants. There is even a separate quarter in the city where such meat is prepared in large quantities. It can be ordered through the store, which is located on the back side of the establishment. Roasting is done on a spit.
Mostly carcasses of animals weighing from 5 to 10 kilograms are used. First, they are cleaned and washed thoroughly. The meat must be clean. After that, generously rub with a mixture of ground pepper, sea salt and garlic. quite successful. Then the carcass is put on a spit and roasted for several hours right over hot coals. The process is monitored by a special worker who periodically rotates the skewers. The meat is very soft, and the crust is brightly colored and crispy. In Manila, such a dish is called "lechon". Every tourist considers it his duty to try it.
How to deal with milk pigs?
As a rule, a piglet is considered dairy, which is no more than two months old. At this time, he still drinks his mother's milk, so his meat is juicy and very tender. It usually has a specific smell that not everyone likes. The piglet smells of milk, which is why it is called so. Baked suckling pig is a real delicacy.
However, it is not at all difficult to prepare it. True, you will need many different ingredients. For one carcass weighing 2.5 kilograms: 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, grain mustard and balsamic vinegar, ½ cup of red wine, a bunch of celery, 140 g of vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of peppercorns and paprika, a little salt and butter , as well as a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg and dry basil.
After all the products are assembled, the main process begins:
- First, the carcass must be washed, dried with a towel, and then pricked from the inside with a sharp knife in several places.
- Prepare the marinade from the rest of the ingredients. You need to start with solid components (walnut, pepper, cinnamon and paprika), rubbing them with a pestle in a mortar.
- Coat the pig on all sides with the prepared mixture.
- To keep the carcass in shape, you can insert a regular bottle wrapped in foil inside. Now it can be put in a baking sheet and left for 40 minutes to marinate.
- After this, the piglet must be sent to the oven or oven.
In an hour and a half it will be completely ready.
Piglet in Georgian
In the East, meat is treated with great respect. The preparation of such a dish is a real ritual. For example, experienced Georgian chefs know many interesting recipes.
They can tell you how to bake a pig in the oven. To do this, you only need a carcass weighing up to five kilograms, 60 grams of butter and 5 tablespoons of adjika.
There is nothing unusual about this recipe:
- First of all, you need to grind the oil with adjika until a thick, maximally homogeneous mass is formed.
- Spread the washed and dried carcass with the prepared mixture, and then put on a baking sheet and put in the oven, which has already been preheated to 190-200 degrees.
- During baking, the product should be constantly poured with juice, which runs down to the tray. Readiness can be determined with a long needle. You just need to pierce the pig in the shoulder area, where the layer of meat is the thickest. Juice should come out of the hole, not blood.
Now the finished pig can be taken out and transferred to a dish. To make it more convenient for guests, the meat can be cut into portions.
Recipe for every day
For home use, you can offer a recipe for baked piglet with minced meat. This method is very practical, since there is little meat in the pig itself.
For cooking, you need a carcass weighing a little more than one and a half kilograms, 35 g of sunflower and 50 g of animal oil, ½ kilogram of buckwheat, a tablespoon of flour, 100 g of honey and a little cranberry.
Cooking method:
- Rinse the pig under water, and then lower it into boiling water to easily remove the hairs.
- After that, singe, sprinkle with flour, and then wash clean.
- Remove all bones (except legs and head).
- Prepare minced meat. To do this, add salt and the insides of a pig fried with onions to the porridge cooked from buckwheat.
- Fill the inside of the carcass with the prepared mixture and then sew up the incision with a dense thread.
- Coat the workpiece with vegetable oil, and then with butter.
- After that, carefully lay it on a baking sheet and put it in the oven for 1.5 hours.
- Turn the pig on the other side and leave for another hour. Piglet and ears must be covered with foil.
- Make a small incision on the back of the finished product to let the steam out.
- As a sauce, prepare a mixture of cranberries, honey and flour. To do this, it must be boiled over low heat until thickened.
On the table, this dish will look very beautiful.
Photos to help
The first time cooking is always difficult. What should the hostess do if she does not know how a roasted pig is made? The photo in this case will help to control the work at each stage.
First you need to stock up on products. You will need a pig weighing 5 kg, pepper, garlic, salt and sour cream (or cream).
Now you can start work:
- From grated garlic, salt and pepper, prepare a mixture with which to rub the washed piglet carcass on all sides.
- After that, the outside is well coated with sour cream.
- Transfer the product to a greased baking sheet or into a mold.
- Send to the oven for a couple of hours. More time may be needed. Readiness is best determined by making a small puncture. Be sure to remember to close your ears and nose.
For a side dish, boiled rice or vegetables in any form are suitable for such a dish. If desired, the pig itself can be decorated using mayonnaise, herbs and fresh vegetables for this.
Before starting cooking, the piglet must be properly processed - remove bruises that may be on the carcass, the brand on the ears, traces of the stamp of the veterinary services (the skin does not need to be removed, just scrape off), as well as the hairs that always remain in the ears and between legs.
Hairs are best removed with a flame. If the piglet is small, this can be done right in the kitchen on a gas stove. The big pig is best handled in the yard with a blowtorch.
Wash the cleaned piglet thoroughly with warm water. Rub the body of the pig with salt and seasonings, both the outside and the inside. Leave alone for at least 8-10 hours at room temperature.
Choose seasonings to your liking, you can use.
To completely transfer the seasoning smells into the meat, wrap the carcass in cling film or place in a large plastic bag.
It is better to season and salt in the evening so that the pig marinates all night. In the morning, remove the piglet from the bag and dry the skin with a paper towel or kitchen towel.
After the skin has been wiped dry, it is necessary to decide on the filling. Usually, the filling is put in to hold the shape of the pig, since an empty pig after the oven can noticeably change its shape.
Many housewives use buckwheat or onion and sage as fillings. You can also use vegetables and. If you decide to use buckwheat, then boil and fry buckwheat in a pan with onions.
Fill the belly of the pig with cooked buckwheat. Fill all the cavities so that the shape of the pig looks like a live pig.
If you decide to put vegetables or fruits in, then also put everything in the belly of the pig.
To sew up the trouser cavity, use wooden skewers about 10 centimeters long. Step back on the edges of the incision in the abdomen of the piglet by 2.5 centimeters and pierce the joints with a skewer - two opposite edges of the incision in the belly. The distance between the skewers should also be 2.5 centimeters. The number of skewers depends on the length of the belly incision.
After the skewers are strung, take a thread about a meter long and wrap the skewers with a "figure of eight". For a seam, use a thick cotton thread.
In order for the edges of the cut in the abdomen of the piglet to close, it is necessary to tighten the thread as much as possible during wrapping. At the end, tie a knot and remove the excess thread.
After sewing up the abdomen, wipe the entire body of the piglet with vodka or alcohol. This will remove all the moisture that is on the skin of the piglet. Next, lubricate the entire body of the piglet with ghee. Do not spare the oil, it will help the piglet acquire a golden color.
Wrap the ears, tail and snout in foil so they don't burn. You can not wrap the tail in foil, but make a small hole (the anus is also suitable) in the body and fill it there.
Place a foil ball or potato in the pig's mouth to keep the mouth open. In my opinion, this will be done so that the inside of the head does not remain raw.
In a baking sheet, it is advisable to lay the pig with its stomach down, but if you fail, then there will be nothing to worry about.
Lubricate the pan generously with olive or vegetable oil, and put the pig in it. If your piglet is plump, then make shallow cuts on the back with a sharp knife.
Preheat the oven to a temperature of 200 degrees and send a baking sheet with a pig there.
After 30 minutes, open the oven and see how much fat has accumulated in the pan with meat juice. If there is little fat, then pour warm olive oil over the piglet.
After an hour, maybe even earlier, when the skin of the piglet begins to brown, it is necessary to reduce the temperature in the oven to 170-180 degrees.
After that, pour over the fat that is collected in the pan. Watering must be repeated strictly every 15 minutes so that the skin does not dry out. If your pig is lying on its side, you can turn it.
To prepare a suckling pig, you will need two and a half kilogram pigs, one bunch of celery, two tablespoons of mustard seeds, a teaspoon of paprika, half a small spoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of peppercorns, a pinch of basil and nutmeg, salt, one hundred grams of butter, half a glass of red wine, two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, two tablespoons of soy sauce, eight tablespoons of olive oil.
Let's get to our recipe. Powder basil, peppercorns, nutmeg, cinnamon, paprika, mix this powder with salt, grain mustard, soy sauce, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We thoroughly wash the pig carcass inside and out, dry it with a towel. From the inside we will make small incisions, but not through and through. Lubricate the piglet with the prepared marinade inside and out. On the form where the piglet will be baked, lay out the celery stalks, laying them out in the form of a lattice. We spread the piglet on top and leave it to stand for thirty to forty minutes so that it has time to soak in the marinade. Lubricate the piglet, tail and ears liberally with oil and wrap with foil. We put the pig in the oven at a temperature of one hundred and eighty degrees and bake for about an hour and a half. It is recommended to serve the piglet with vegetables; you can decorate it with lemon, olives or herbs when served.
Recipe: Stuffed pig.
To cook a stuffed pig, you will need one gutted pig, one kilogram of buckwheat crumbly porridge, three hundred grams of champignons, two hundred grams of onion, one hundred grams of vegetable oil and salt.
Let's start cooking. Rinse the mushrooms thoroughly, chop them finely and fry them in vegetable oil in a heated frying pan. Separately from the mushrooms, fry the pre-chopped onions. We introduce the fried onions and mushrooms into the pre-cooked buckwheat crumbly porridge and add a little salt.
We thoroughly wash the piglet inside and out, rub it with salt from the inside. Through the incision on the abdomen, fill the piglet with porridge, but not too tightly. Sew up the incision and place the pig on a baking sheet with its feet down. Cover the piglet and ears with dough or foil. We put the form with the pig in an oven heated to two hundred degrees and bake until a golden crust has formed. Periodically water the piglet with juice that is secreted from it.
Recipe: Roasted Piglet.
To prepare a roast pig, you will need about one and a half kilograms of suckling pig meat or regular pork, five cloves of garlic, four apples (sweet and sour), two oranges, one hundred and fifty grams of butter (butter), one tomato, a bunch of parsley, a small spoonful of salt, half a small spoon of thyme, bay leaf and a pinch of ground coriander.
To get the meat of a real suckling pig, you need to soak the pig meat in cold water for three to four hours in advance.
So, marinate the meat soaked in water for three hours. To prepare the marinade, peel and grate three apples (on the smallest grater), mix them with the juice of both oranges, crushed garlic cloves, pepper and salt, ground coriander, bay leaf and thyme.
After three hours of marinating, we make small cuts in the meat, into which we stuff pieces of butter and tomato.
In a baking dish for a piglet, lay out the bottom with slices of the remaining apple, sprinkle the apple slices with chopped parsley and spread the marinated piglet meat on top.
We cover the form with meat with foil and put it in an oven heated to one hundred and seventy degrees, we will bake for about an hour and a half.
Recipe: Roast pig.
To cook a roasted pig, you do not need to make insanely many efforts and waste your precious time. The recipe for this dish is quite simple, which is why it was so popular in the old days. By the way, it was this dish that was a favorite in the old days, especially for the Christmas holidays or for the new year.
So, according to one old Russian recipe, you will need to gut a pig (today it will be enough to buy one already gutted), singe it on a fire and soak it for several hours in cool, or even cold water. After we take the pig out of the water, dry it thoroughly with a towel, rub it with salt, stuff it with garlic and set it to fry in a preheated oven. Every ten to fifteen minutes, the pig should be watered with its own juice, which will be released during the frying process.
Remove the finished pig from the oven, put it on a dish and serve with potatoes, vegetables and horseradish as a side dish.
Recipe: Piglet on a spit.
To cook a pig on a spit, you will need pepper and salt, one small pig, two lemons and one cup of vegetable oil.
Give the piglet a good bath, pat it dry, and singe its bristles. Rub the inside of the piglet with lemon, salt and pepper, put the piglet on a skewer. Make sure that the vertebral part of the piglet is parallel to the skewer. Then tie the lower part of the carcass to the skewer, and sew up the previously gutted belly of the pig.
Leave the pig for an hour or two in an upright position so that all the liquid is drained from it. At this time, light the coals, as soon as the coals are hot, place the spit over the coals and start roasting the piglet. Keep in mind that you need to rotate the spit fairly quickly, otherwise the pig will burn. From time to time you need to lubricate the piglet with lemon and vegetable oil, then your piglet will have a beautiful and crispy crust.
Recipe: Fake piglet.
To prepare a fake pig, you will need the following products: ten potatoes, half a kilogram of minced meat, one egg, one onion, some raisins, vegetable oil.
Boil the potatoes and mash them, add the egg to the mashed potatoes and stir. Fry the minced meat with onions, put the puree on a napkin. In the middle of the potato mass, lay out the minced meat with onions, blind the edges, slightly lifting the edges of the napkin. You want all of the stuffing to fit inside without getting tangled up in the potatoes.
Place the resulting loaf on a baking sheet, give it the shape of a pig, use raisins to make pig eyes, brush with oil and bake in the oven until crispy.
