Traditionally roasted turkey will be featured on many holiday tables in the US. In Austria, where I spent my youngster years, many families serve goose or pork, in particular suckling pig for Christmas.
A story comes to mind from my young chef apprentice years. I was scheduled to work in a hotel up high in the mountains in the Tyrolean Alps. The hotel I worked at was in a ski resort and it happened to be snowed-in often. It generally meant that the streets leading to the village were closed because of avalanche warnings. Those avalanches came down with thunder-like noise but overall the scenery was very peaceful and beautiful.
A Tyrolean Evening was scheduled once a week, which was a special dinner accompanied with a live band playing folk music. The highlight of the evening was when we carved crackly-golden-skinned suckling pigs on gigantic, thick slab, wooden cutting boards in front of a humongous, flickering open-fireplace.
The nose-to-tail presentation was always a huge attraction and not much of that lip-smacking roast pig was left.
Pig cooking
Generally the small pigs were brined the day before and then rubbed with a spice mix and slow cooked to perfection.
I recommend suckling pigs around 18 pounds. At that point the piglets diet had been only milk and has a delicate flavor profile – guaranteed to be divine, moist, cooked meat.
A whole piglet will be a bit much for the average family and won’t fit in the common household oven. I still prefer to roast the whole piglet because it’s that much more delicious and a culinary pinnacle, plus leftovers are equally delicious with sandwich and salad applications for the next days to come. Anyway, if you decide not to go with the whole-animal roast, ask a specialty butcher to divide the porker into its parts: shoulder and legs. Back and head do not have that much meat yield compared to shoulder and legs, but they are equally delicious. Calculate approximately 1-½ pounds of meat per person. The head will have crispy ears, tasty cheek meat and offal - the tongue and brain – which is a treat.
Basic Brine
1 gallon water
½ cup sea salt
1 suckling pig 15 - 20 pounds
- Place water and salt in a bowl and stir with a wire whisk for one minute or until the salt has dissolved in the water.
- Place pork into a container, cover with brine and store refrigerated for 24 hours.
Chef’s Note: If brining is not an option because of refrigeration space constraints, proceed to the next step below. Let the piglet sit at room temperature with its spice rub before it is put into the oven.
Roasted Suckling Pig
(recipe is measured by the pound of raw meat)
2 cups garlic cloves, peeled
½ cup salt sea
4 tablespoons black pepper
½ tsp marjoram
1 cup olive oil
3 lemons, juiced
1 suckling pig 15-20 pounds
12 oz dark amber beer
- Combine garlic, sea salt, black pepper, marjoram, and olive oil in a kitchen blender and process for 2 minutes or until pureed.
- Depending on the size of your oven, position the pig in a “dog resting position” that is belly facing down, front feet curled-in. In an average household oven, the pig should fit diagonally when placed on a sheet pan. If the pig does not fit, consider sawing the porker into two pieces.
- Rub the pig inside and out with the spice mixture and put it back into that resting position.
- Wrap the ears and tail tightly with aluminum foil which will prevent scorching.
- Roast the piglet at 325°F for 3 hours. A thermometer should show 150°F at this point. Increase the heat to 500°F and pour beer over the top of the pig and roast for 15 minutes longer– this will make the skin crispy.
- Turn the oven off and open up the oven door - this way the juices can distribute within the meat.
- With a metal spatula and large kitchen fork, lift the pig onto a large serving platter.
- With a metal spatula, scrape the roasting residue from the bottom of the roasting pan and serve with the pig.
