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CHRISTMAS SUCKLING PIG

Please click on the image to see enlarged version of the finished recipe.
Our suckling pig makes a delicious treat for the Christmas period, whether as an alternative to turkey on Christmas Day (a leg will feed six generously) or for a New Year’s Day feast and is just as good cold as it is hot. 
All of the sweet, fruity sauces and accompaniments that we associate with Christmas go beautifully with Middle White Suckling Pig.  We have tried it with Cumberland Sauce, truffled roast potatoes, Middle White chipolatas and devils on horseback – a perfect treat for Christmas Day.
A leg of suckling pig needs about one and a quarter hours in a hot oven.  Dry it very thoroughly, slather with a light olive oil and sprinkle generously with sea salt.  Baste from time to time and keep a watch so that you don’t burn the delicious crackling.
The quantities below for the Cumberland Sauce will be generous for the six or so people you can feed from a leg of Middle White suckling pig. 
Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

  • 1 lemon
  • 1 orange
  • 125ml redcurrent jelly
  • 4tbsp (at least) of Port
  • 2 tsp arrowroot
  • 3 tsp cold water
  • 1 heaped tsp of grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard, grainy or smooth (I like to use the grainy one but that certainly isn't classic French cookery)

Instructions

  • Remove the zest from the orange and the lemon with a potato peeler and cut it into very fine matchsticks, as long as you can achieve. Put it in a small pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and refresh with cold water. 
  • Mean while squeeze the juice from both fruits and add to the jelly and the port in a small pan. Heat gently and stir until the jam has dissolved. Add the mustard and ginger.
  • Soak the arrowroot in the water until it is fully dissolved and then add a few spoonfuls of the jelly mixture to it.  Stir well and then add the mixture back to the pan with the jelly.  Bring back to a very gentle boil and stir until the sauce has thickened.  The sauce thickens quite a bit as it cools so don’t expect it to get very thick – this is a sauce which should be liquid rather than gelatinous – and, if you overboil it, the arrowroot loses its thickening power altogether!
  • Once you have achieved the desired consistency, stir in the citrus rind and leave to cool.