Pork

Back on the pork at the beginning of the month, sourced from the butcher in Manor Green Road. When it was raining, as it happened, so a cold and wet run up and down Manor Green Road. Weighed in at 6lbs 10oz. Boned shoulder, bespoke a few days previously. And looking at it now, maybe the outer layer of fat had been largely cut away, with the skin being tied back on again afterwards. Which would account for there not being that much fat recovered during cooking, under half a pint. While what struck me at the time was how white the skin was.

After consulting the precedents at references 1 and 2, and the Radiation cook book; and, making allowance for it being a long thin joint which would cook faster, I came to 230 minutes at 160°C. In at 10:15 aiming for 14:00. Noting in passing that big porks were not as frequent as I would have guessed.

At 13:15 we were not quite there. Pork basted, fat drained off, some of it used to oil the roots which went onto the shelf under the pork. Boiled potatoes started. Vegetable stock for the gravy, which had been brewing for most of the morning, strained off. I think, again with hindsight, that I should have moved 15 minutes earlier at 13:00.

The pork, half an hour later.

Full performance with the gravy, using a boule from Waitrose for dipping. Rather undercooked, in the way of English bread (as compared with French), but satisfactory in this context.

Ready to roll. Just over 10 minutes late - while BH prides herself at being spot-on, to the minute.

Pork pretty good, if a touch overcooked around the edges.

Pretty much done at this point.

But not quite as small as it looks above. In addition to the vegetables snapped above, taken with a spot of Fleurie from Jadot, out of Costcutter, as noticed at reference 3. With Jadot to be found at reference 4, notable, according to Wikipedia, for making their own barrels out of genuine French oak. Presumably not flavoured with Bourbon, as noticed towards the end of reference 5.

Jadot, as a big operator, clearly feels the need to explain how close to the earth he is, how he is still one of the chaps. And, to be fair, part of his success might be his ability to maintain that illusion. Something that Simenon alludes to from time to time in his portraits of rich but self-made men. Men who have turned criminal for one reason or another.

Pork followed by rhubarb crumble. The rather mushy, pink rhubarb you get at this time of year, but not bad at all.

With hot custard, naturally. Which, contrariwise, I do not care for with stewed fruit.

Wound up with Butler's chocolates from Waitrose. Plenty of fancy packaging and the chocolates were OK, but rather too sweet (for me) and a little disappointing. Not a Waitrose brand, as I had thought, rather an independent from Ireland to be found at reference 6.

In which connection, I was interested yesterday to read about Waitrose and John Lewis at reference 7. First of John Lewis drifting towards becoming a more ordinary shop with ordinary values. Second of Waitrose having getting on for double the turnover of John Lewis, £7.7bn to £4.8bn. Maybe the fact that the are a lot more Waitrose outlets counts: Waitrose does all sizes, while John Lewis only does big.

All this followed by still warm meat sandwiches on white at 18:30. Spot on! Remainder consigned to the refrigerator, after which it will not be the same.

Carried on into day two.

And then into day three. For the avoidance of doubt, we like cold roast meat with boiled vegetables and gravy. Tastes good and suits us well. And day four. Which finished off the gravy but not the pork.

Maybe the mistake of the Estrela, as noticed at reference 8, was to dress up cold roast pork as if it was fresh roast pork with thick, sweet gravy. The pretence did the meat no favours.

Last knockings on white. That is to say white rolls from Costcutter up the road. Wednesday lunchtime, a time when I have to fend for myself. Actually polished off by BH later.

PS 1: towards the end of the first round of this pork, I started getting unpleasant twinges in my hands and lockings in my fingers; first the right hand, then the left hand. Not for the first time, although I don't think it has happened since. Presumably a harbinger of arthritis to come.

PS 2: while today, Medscape tells me of a dental disaster which is about to overwhelm Northern Ireland. A disaster instigated by the machinations of the commission in Brussels. Presumably a disaster which has been years in preparation - so why is Northern Ireland so unready? What about Ireland proper? While a quick glance at reference 9 suggests that people have been worrying about the mercury in dental amalgams more or less ever since they were invented, early in the 19th century. Two further points. First, it seems that plastic substitutes for mercury amalgams do not work as well. Second, that lots of mercury gets into the water system as a result of dentists flushing used fillings down the sink. So it seems that we do have a problem, particularly in poor areas with bad teeth. I associate to my father once telling me that he had to do a spot of metallurgy as part of his dental studies, perhaps sit a paper on the subject. I wonder if wannabee dentists still do?

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/01/festal-pork.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/07/big-pork.html.

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/02/trolley-640.html.

Reference 4: https://www.louisjadot.com/.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/01/tate-and-pie.html.

Reference 6: https://www.butlerschocolates.com/en. 'Founded in 1932, Butlers is Ireland’s premier family-owned firm dedicated to the craft of exceptional chocolate-making. Every day, our team of devoted chocolatiers creates unforgettable experiences for you to discover and savour'.

Reference 7: John Lewis Partnership returns to profit after 3 years of losses: Retail group says it plans to increase investment rather than pay staff a bonus - Laura Onita, Financial Times - 2024.

Reference 8: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/03/cheese-time.html.

Reference 9: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalgam_(dentistry).