ROAST PORK WITH CRACKLING & APPLE SAUCE

It really does pay to buy good pork. There’s all the difference in the world between meat from an old-fashioned pig like a Middle White or a Gloucester Old Spot that has been allowed to rootle about outdoors, and a pallid joint from a barn-reared beast fed on pellets. You need a good butcher too! The most maddening thing for a cook is to get a beautiful joint of pork with a few vandal’s slashes through the skin instead of perfectly scored crackling. If your butcher or the supermarket don’t do it properly, do it yourself (see below).

Serves 10

2.3kg (5lb) boned loin of pork, skin on 2tsp cooking oil

1tbsp plain flour

425ml (15fl oz) good stock

Salt and black pepper

A small bunch of watercress, to garnish Mustard, to serve

450g (1lb) Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced

2-3tbsp sugar

Preheat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C/ gas 7. Score the pork rind for crackling: using a very sharp knife, make long, fine cuts through the skin into the fat, but not through the fat into the flesh. The cuts need to be really close together, not more than a pencil’s width apart, and should completely cover the skin.

Oil the palm of your hand and rub it all over the pork skin. Put the joint into a roasting tin and, once the oven is up to temperature (not before), sprinkle the skin all over with a good dusting of salt (this makes the skin bubble up instead of cooking to inedible leather). Roast the joint in the middle of the oven for

1 hour, then turn the oven down to 190°C/ fan 170°C/gas 5 and roast for 1 hour.

For the apple sauce, put the apple in a pan with the sugar and 100ml water. Cook slowly, covered, until the apples are soft. Beat briefly and tip into a serving bowl.

Test the pork by piercing the meat with a skewer (not through the crackling). The juices should run out clear. If they are pink, return to the oven and cook for a further 15 minutes, then test again. Once cooked, put the pork on a serving dish and turn off the oven. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then place in the still-warm oven.

Tip off all but a tablespoon of the fat from the roasting tin. Set the tin over a medium heat and stir the flour into the remaining fat and juices, scraping up the stuck bits as you do so. When the flour has browned, add the stock and whisk constantly while bringing to the boil. Simmer until the gravy is shiny and slightly thickened. Season to taste. Strain into a warmed jug. Garnish the pork with watercress and serve with the gravy, apple sauce and mustard.