Roast Pork to Taste Like Wild Boar

This marinade is rather strong, but the result is really quite good. If you like wild boar, this does taste a lot like it. We used ribs, although the recipe calls for a fresh ham leg of pork, not smoked or salted). You need to vary the time you marinade the pork according to its thickness I left the ribs in 24 hours and that seemed to be about right.
For a pork leg 5-6 lbs, mix the following marinade:
1 cup red wine
4 tablespoons of wine vinegar
2 sliced carrots
1 sliced onion
2 shallots minced (or add an extra onion and a touch more garlic)
2 cloves of garlic minced
3 bay leaves
6 parsley stalks
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp marjoram
12 whole peppercorns
6 juniper berries
2 tsp salt

Put all the ingredients in 8' sauce pan (don't use cast iron or the marinade will turn black) bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. Allow to cool.
Put the meat in a deep china bowl and pour the marinade over it. Place in the refrigerator and turn the meat at least once a day. Or, you can put the meat in a boiling or roasting bag with the marinade and turn it once a day. A pork leg should marinate for 4 days.
At the end of the marinading period, remove the meat and wipe it off.
At this point you can:
1. Roast the meat as usual (350 degrees for 1/2 hour per pound).
---or---
2. Place the meat in a roasting bag and cook for the above time.

If you wish you can reserve the marinade, mix with the cooking juices and 1 cup of beef stock and add a flour and water paste to make sauce. Boil the sauce for several minutes to evaporate the alcohol.
According to the recipe you can use a similar marinade with mutton to imitate venison, though it is probably easier to come by venison than mutton.
Adapted from Cuissot de Porc Frais en Sanglier; David, Elizabeth French Provincial Cooking. Penguin, 1969.

---

Back to Early Period #2 | Back to Early Period Index | Back to PastTimes