Title: whole-pig-msg
Subject: Info. on roasting a whole pig. Various experiences.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: whole pig, roast, SCA, pork, outdoor, cooking

whole-pig-msg – 2/20/14

Info. on roasting a whole pig. Various experiences.

NOTE: See also the files: Whole-Pig-Fst-art, cook-ovr-fire-msg, roast-pork-msg, butchering-msg, pig-to-sausag-art, livestock-msg.

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Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 10:01:48 +1000 (EST)
From: Charles McCathieNevile <charlesn at sunrise.srl.rmit.edu.au>
Subject: SC - Whole pigs...

A bit of red wine is good, and fill the thing with halved apples (Or ducks
and apples, depending on how hungry you are.)

Our pig took about 10 hours, and was a couple of feet above the fire. I
would use charcoal (we used wood), slash the skin and rub it with salt
and wine and herbs, as well as stick them inside with the fruit.

The thing to watch is fat dripping onto the fire, which can flare up and
set fire to your pig - in about 3 minutes you will have half as much pig :(

(If it can happen to a goat it can happen to a pig...

Charles Ragnar

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 21:46:01 EDT
From: LrdRas <LrdRas at aol.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Request:  Recipe for whole pig?

themorrigan at softhome.net writes:

<< I too need a this recipie, the feastocrats for our next big event are
 planning on doing one but in a hog roaster. I promised to try to track down a recipie.

 Morganna >>

The many times that I have done pig, we started it about midnight the night
before for a 1 or 2 o'clock  in the afternoon finish time. . The pig roaster
takes about 5 bags of charcoal. The only thing that I have ever used for a
baste is beer.

BTW, congradulations on getting chosen for this job. In my neck of the woods
pig roasting is usually reserved for the men. :-) You also might want to
prepare yourself for the "taste" testing and critique you will recieve from
"experienced" pig people. :-)

Ras

Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 10:42:46 -0400
From: "LHG, JRG" <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - Roasted Animals

Here is a recipe from about 1660 (I know, OOP), from The Complete Cook by
Rebecca price for roasted pig from Williamsburg VA (yes, I did indulge in a
few pamphlets, which I am still reading).

To Roast A Pig: A Very Good Why
  After your pigg is scalded drye the inside with a cloth, then spitt it and
put into the Belly thereof a handful of sage, a piece of butter, and a
crust of bread, then sew it up and lay it to the fire, and flower it very
thicke all over, and as it drops off flower it again, and so roast it with
a quick fire till it be almost enough and the coat thereof crisp, then with
a drye cloath wuipe all the flower clean off, and when it is brown and
crisp send it to the table with sawce made of the gravie that runs from it
in the roasting, butter being melted therein with some chopped sage, and
the brains of the pig.

Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 22:21:31 EDT
From: SigridPW at aol.com
Subject: SC - pig roast 

I've done a few of these in my time... so here goes!

In general terms, you spit the pig, hang him over hot coals (approximately 1/2hour per pound), turn a quarter turn every 15 minutes until done.  Now there are a few tricks....

1) Most importantly, bank the coals under the butt end and the shoulder .There's not much meat in the middle of Miss Piggy, but the front and back are meaty and need the heat.

2) Hot coals are the right temperature when you can't leave your hand between the fire and the meat for but a couple seconds.

3) If you want to bring people from miles around throw your vegetable trimmings on the coals.... mmmmm!

4) poke holes in the skin.  This serves two functions.  One, it keeps the fat melting off, which makes your meat nice and moist without being greasy, and, two, it will take care of that basting dilemma.... your piggy is virtually self-basting!

5)  As the pig cooks, the skin will draw up (shrink).  where it is closest to bone, it will crack as the bone will be REALLY hot.  This is where hole-poking is very important.  The second time I did one of these up (a 125 lb. guy!), I had someone else turning the pig as I attended to some side dishes.  "A quarter turn every quarter hour".  Well, 45 min. or so later, I came back, and Mister Pig was still on his side as I had left him.  Cooking so long on one side had caused the perforations to cook closed, unbeknownst to me, but the skin had split all down said piggy's back.... I quickly turned the pig a quarter turn so his feet were up in the air, and all the fat that had melted while Mister Pig was on his side poured down onto the charcoal in a sheet.  It was spectacular!  I was told the flames were about eight feet in the air!

Thankfully grease fires are short lived.   :o)

6) Just remember that cooking a pig in his skin is like cooking him wrapped in foil.  You can do almost anything to the outside, and the inside will still be wonderful.  The head is a little tricky.  If the ears, etc. start to look too done, wrap them in foil.  As the feet cook the tendons will shorten and the forelegs will curl up.  You can wrap these in foil, too since they have a tendency to burn being so much closer to the fire.  And PLEASE us charcoal.  I know of one group that tried to do this only they used live coals from a woodfire in a single layer.  Not much heat there. 

A couple questions:

How big a pig are you cooking?

What kind of spit set-up do you have? 

How much help do you have?

Are you responsible for more than the pig for this meal? 

I've done 5 or 6 of these now, and pretty much have the bugs worked out.  If I can offer any further assistance, please allow me to.  It would be my pleasure

Sigrid Pigwoman

Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 21:43:02 -0500
From: "Boogie" <boogie at softdisk.com>
Subject: Re: SC - pig roast

> 1) Most importantly, bank the coals under the butt end and the shoulder.
> There's not much meat in the middle of Miss Piggy, but the front and back are
> meaty and need the heat.
>
> 2) Hot coals are the right temperature when you can't leave your hand between
> the fire and the meat for but a couple seconds.

You may want to brush the skin with a mixture of honey and beer or a mixture of your choosing.  This will give a nice glaze as well as flavor to the skin. The head will take longer to cook but you have to be careful not to burn off the ears and nose. If the pig is small enough you may want to split the entire pig including the head using chicken wire to spread it open like a butterfly while it is on the spit.

The info on the coals was right on the money.

Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 22:39:42 -0400
From: Phil & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - FORGIVE ME

Teresa A. D'Agostino wrote:
> Tomorrow we are having "porchetta" pig roasted over a spit.  Can anyone
> please tell me how to prepare this so that the skin is nice and
> CRUNCHY?  It is for a 150 person office BBQ.

A whole pig normally needn't be basted much. You might try starting the pig close to the heat source, and move it away to finish cooking. The idea is not to get it as brown and crunchy as you want it before it is done, but just to give it a slight head start. Salting the skin the night before could help too, by drawing some moisture out of the skin. The guys in Chinatown solve this problem by repeated bastings with oil at deep-frying temperatures (before the pig is put on to roast!). Basting over afire or hot coals is, of course, exceedingly dangerous!

Adamantius

Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 14:21:34 -0500
From: "Boogie" <boogie at softdisk.com>
Subject: Re: SC - More Pig Questions

> Hi all; kat here, with some more questions about that pig we're
spit-roasting this coming November.  I appreciate any and all input from
our on-list pig roasting experts!
>
> Query:  We are expecting a full-grown wild boar, whose weight we will not
know till it's time to start cooking.  We are expecting to have to cook it
for approx. 24 hours, give or take.  How much charcoal should I buy?  :-)
>
> Query:  Will a gallon of marinade be enough, or should we make two?  We
are planning to "baste" the critter during cooking with spray bottles (yes
we are buying new, food-grade bottles).
>
> Query:  My husband plans to remove the head and bake it separately, so it
does not overcook or fall apart over the fire.  What is the standard baking
time per pound for pig's head?
>
>       - kat

kat . boogie here . first a wild boar will cook alot different then a pig.
it's game and the meat is stronger it needs to cook slower ,24hrs is a good
quess i'd use wood as well as charcoal in your pit and I'd use more then a
gallon of marinade due to the change of texture in the meat I've done many
a pig, a few sheep, one side of beef but one needs to be there to realy
know how the thing needs to be cooked.
boogie

Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 15:54:22 -0400
From: "Philippa Alderton" <phlip at bright.net>
Subject: Re: SC - More Pig Questions

Kat asks:
>Query:  We are expecting a full-grown wild boar, whose weight we will not
>know till it's time to start cooking.  We are expecting to have to cook it
>for approx. 24 hours, give or take.  How much charcoal should I buy?  :-)

Expect to start out with two or three bags of charcoal, and to refresh it
with a bag every hour or so. Hint- stretch your charcoal budget by adding
chunks of an aromatic wood, presoaked for 1/2 hour in water. Suggestions
would be Apple wood (my second favorite-mesquite, my favorite, being OOP)
Oak, Hickory, or any fruit wood. Chunks should be about 2 inches thick- no
more than 3 inches, no less than 1. Length isn't as important, but try to
keep it under a foot for ease in using.

>Query:  Will a gallon of marinade be enough, or should we make two?  We are
>planning to "baste" the critter during cooking with spray bottles (yes we
>are buying new, food-grade bottles).

I'd go for at least 2 gallons, with intentions of making any leftover
marinade into a sauce for serving alongside the meat.

Phlip
Caer Frig
Barony of the Middle Marches
Middle Kingdom

Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 15:09:54 -0500
From: Helen <him at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - More Pig Questions

http://barbecuen.com/faqs/pigs.htm

OOP but it is very good site and you can ask him questions.  He says low
heat and long time is the best for the pig.  About 200 degrees for 24
hours.

Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 17:51:44 EDT
From: RuddR at aol.com
Subject: SC - Re: Pig's Head

Madeleine quotes and writes:
<< A full grown pig's head will yield about 6 pounds of succulent flesh not
 including the tongue, brains or muscles behind the eyes.

And the best part of a pig's head is the jowls IMHO.  Tender and tasty! I've
roasted more than a couple of these guys, and that's the part I save for
myself.

 Ras (who brought a gilded pig's head to his very first SCA dish to pass 14
 years ago.)
  >>

I'm sure it was spectacular! >>

There are directions for preparing boar's head in _Joy of Cooking_ (Rombauer,
Becker, 1975), which explains the process in great detail, and presents it
as easy as possible, even for beginners.

Rudd Rayfield

Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 02:25:31 EDT
From: SigridPW at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - More Pig Questions

<< Hi all; kat here, with some more questions about that pig we're spit-
roasting this coming November.  I appreciate any and all input from our on-
list pig roasting experts!

<< Query:  We are expecting a full-grown wild boar, whose weight we will not
know till it's time to start cooking.  We are expecting to have to cook it for
approx. 24 hours, give or take.  How much charcoal should I buy?  :-)>>

In my experience, 125 lb.(dressed) pig roasts for 8 hours, using 5 to 6 BIG
bags of charcoal.

 << Query:  Will a gallon of marinade be enough, or should we make two?  We
are planning to "baste" the critter during cooking with spray bottles (yes
we are buying new, food-grade bottles).>>

Are you planning on leaving the skin on?  If you are, there is no need to
baste.  The skin protects the meat and seals in moisture, kinda like aluminum
foil.  Word of advice... be sure you poke lots of good sized holes in the skin
to allow the grease to drip out.  I left the turning of a pig to a scullery-
type person, and returned to find my pig unterned for 45 minutes.  The skin
across the back had split, but the perforations had evidently cooked closed.
I found this out by turning our friend, the pig, a quarter turn, and dumping
all this melted fat straight into the fire.  It was the most GLORIOUS grease
fire!

I was told the flames shot 8 feet into the air!  Attesting to the benefits
of leaving the beast in it's skin... the meat was still delectable.
If you have it skinned, baste you buns off!  Make extra marinade and what
doesn't go on the pig, thicken and serve as sauce at table.

<< Query:  My husband plans to remove the head and bake it separately, so it
does not overcook or fall apart over the fire.  What is the standard baking
time per pound for pig's head? >>

The head will not overcook or fall apart.  If you cook it along with the rest
of its corporeal remains, it will be done when the thickest parts of the butt
and shoulder are done.  Just put foil over his ears so they don't burn, if you
want.  Kindof makes him look like and alien, but otherwise the ears get really
crispy.  Same for the legs.  I also think it's easier to carve on up the neck
to the "cheeks" when the piggy is whole.  Not to mention it looks really cool
to have a whole pig hanging there.  People ask the silliest things because
they are so... impressed.  One of my favorites was, "Are you gonna EAT
that??!"  My all-time favorite was, "Is it dead?"

My, how far removed we have gotten from our food sources!  :o)

Madeleine
(aka Sigrid Pigwoman by my Viking friends"

Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 17:18:31 -0000
From: "Oughton, Karin (GEIS, Tirlan)" <Karin.Oughton at geis.ge.com>
Subject: RE: SC - cooking in a pit or on a spit

> I am thinking about doing a feast where we will be cooking a large amount
> of meat, either a half, or perhaps a suckling pig over a spit or will bury
> it in a pit.
>
> Does anyone have any experiences with one or both methods?
>
> Lady Angeline di Aquila,  Deputy Seneschal Dominion of Myrkfaelinn,

Yes - loads - I did an annual event for  4 years where we roasted a whole
pig on a spit over a wood fire at a reproduction dark age village.  It's a
working village so we even had an authentic-ish 'herb garden' to work from.
In fact I've written up a page about it in my web site  cooking area  -
www.tirlan.com/cooking/

The times for the roasting are loose in that it is heavily dependent on the
weather - that was worst case ona grey windy rainy summer day, but sometimes
we start roasting at 12 and it's ready at 7.30 ish .

What do you want to know?

karin

Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 22:37:37 EST
From: SigridPW at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - cooking in a pit or on a spit

I've spit-roasted several (i.e., 6 or 7) pigs as in PIGS!  Average size being
125 to 150 pounds.  Not your average 70 pound suckling pig.  Size depends, of
course, on how many you're serving.  Do you have a spit?  If you don't, you
might considering pit baking, although I prefer spit-roasting.  For spit
roasting, the cooking rules are generally a fire hot enough to keep you from
holding your hand over it for more than a couple of seconds, and turn the
beastie a quarter turn every quarter hour until done.  Be sure to bank the
coals under the back end and the front end as that's where the bulk of the
meat is.  Depending on size, you can figure about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes per
pound this way... my 120 pounders took about 6 to 7 hours. The bigger ones a
bit longer.  For further info, you can e-mail me privately, if you wish, so
as not to take up the bandwidth here...

Lady Giulia Madelena Sarducci
(formerly known as Sigrid Pigwoman in another SCA lifetime!)  :o)

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999 08:40:18 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - cooking in a pit or on a spit

stefan at texas.net writes:
<< Huh? If it takes 1/2 hour to 45 minutes per pound, wouldn't it take at
 least 60 hours instead of 6 or 7? Perhaps you mean 1/2 minute to 45 seconds
 per pound? >>

It would be the latter only if you used a microvave. :-) When I do a pig for
weddings, etc. I usually start it around midnight and it is ready a little
after noon ...about 12 hrs. later. When I did the Roc Who Feedeth Her Young
with elephants , it was started in the morning around breakfast ans was ready
for feast at 6:30 pm. Both the pigs and the roc were stuffed which would have
a significant impact on cooking times but I also kept the charcoal  bed on the
'cool' side to insure a long slow roast. Locally, all the people I know who
have pig roasts have one person whose duty it is to see to the pig. Although
this isn't necessary it makes good sense because basting, adding charcoal,
spraying down the flames, turning, etc. have to be done in a timely fashion
and can't wait until the cook has the time to do it.

Depending whether the pig is stuffed or not , the actual size of the animal
and the age of the animal, roasting time will vary from 7 to 12 plus hrs.
Times can be significantly reduced if the animal is cut into several smaller
and more manageble pieces but the fun of doing the whole animal makes the
extra time worth it.

Ras

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999 11:04:17 EST
From: SigridPW at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - cooking in a pit or on a spit

LrdRas at aol.com writes:
<< It would be the latter only if you used a microvave. :-) When I do a pig for
 weddings, etc. I usually start it around midnight and it is ready a little
 after noon ...about 12 hrs. later >>

No microwave necessary (that was another cooking bunch in Caid!).  I don't
stuff them, I bank the coals under the meat ends and keep the charcoal hot.
The pig goes on about 10:30 or 11:00, and is done about 6:30... after 6 or
seven of these I've got it down to a system....  Also, If you leave the skin
on, there is no need to baste as the skin keeps the moisture in the meat. Of
course if you want to do something more than just roast it you add time,
however, at a primitive site for 75 fighter types at a war, hot roasted meat
carved off the spit seems to be more than acceptable.  I suppose it would
depend on whom you were serving and what your facilities were, your staff,
etc.  but .....

We couldn't start the meat any sooner because that was when the pig was
slaughtered and it needed to hang.  Sometimes the pig ranch slaughtered it
the night before if we drove out and picked out the one we wanted.  And as I
said, 6 to seven hours got Mr. Piggy done and on the plates!  :o)

Lady Giuglia

Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 19:55:49 -0600
From: Helen <him at gte.net>
Subject: SC - pig cooking on a spit.

I have done a pig for my nineteenth birthday.  My Grandpa helped and he is an
old cajun.  He told me 100lbs and under pig plan on 8 hours.  We did it for 8
hours over a low fire. And it was great.  We stuffed it with garlic and green
onions that we poked into holes we made all over the pig on one side.  We left
one side plain and no one ate the plain side. I plan to do 2 pigs at about 100
lbs each for my medieval wedding.  I plan to slow roast them for 24 hours over a
low fire about 200 degrees.  I want the meat falling off the bone.  I have done
alot of web research on the best way to do it.  If you have the time, slow
roasting is really worth the effort.

Helen

Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 20:47:13 -0400
From: "Siegfried Heydrich" <baronsig at peganet.com>
Subject: Re: SC - OT- How do you cook a pig?

Slow, steady heat, baste regularly, and put a tent over the top of the pig
to help retain a bubble of hot air. Get an electric rotisserie and save
yourself an awesome amount of aggravation. Make sure that you either use
charcoal (and lots of it) or have your logs going past the 'flameup' stage
when you add them to the bed; if the logs are flaming, you just scorch the
meat. Have a garden hose standing by for flareups and accidents. If you're
up north, use anthracite coal for less cleanup problems. And make sure you
have a couple of large, burley helpers to help move it around.
    Figure for a full grown pig at least 12-18 hours cooking time, maybe
more, depending on size - for big pigs, I actually prefer doing them in
pits. I've done pigs stuffed with kraut & sausages, forcemeat stuffing,
fruit & bread stuffing, pretty much whatever you want. The baste depends on
what you want the flavor to be, but you want a fair amount of oil in it to
keep the skin from charring and assist in heat transference. Make sure you
cover the ears, snout, tail, and hooves with foil so they don't burn. If
you're going to put something in its mouth when serving, use a wedge to hold
it open. If you're going to stuff the pig AFTER it's cooked (i.e., fresh
fruit), make sure you keep the cavity open and well oiled.
    Be aware that cooking it is only the beginning - cutting and carving is
a royal pain. Let the pig rest for at least a half hour (more if you can)
after removing it from the fire before beginning to carve. If it's going to
be one of those buffet situations, put 2 carvers (1 on each side) or it'll
be a hell of a bottleneck.

    Sieggy

Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 21:42:01 EDT
From: CBlackwill at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - OT- How do you cook a pig?

ysabeau at austin.rr.com writes:
> I have some friends who are planning on spit roasting a whole pig for 4th of
>  July. The has been or will be professionally butchered. But aside from
>  running a spit through it and turning it throughout the day, what should
>  they know?  How long do they need to cook it?  How would you season it and
>  what would you baste it with?

I would suggest wrapping the thing in chicken wire to keep it from falling 
apart (I've had this happen at a 4th of July event). However, I suppose if it 
is trussed properly, that won't be necessary.   I might also suggest a simple 
seasoning of salt and pepper to begin with, and then about two hours before 
it's done, start ladling on a baste of apricot jam thinned down with white 
wine,  You don't want it to "stick" to the pig like jelly, but rather make it 
thin enough so that it evenly coats the skin.  It makes for a nice, 
crispy-sweet flavor and texture.

Balthazar of Blackmoor

Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 16:23:41 -0500
From: Acanthus Books <amanda at acanthus-books.com>
Subject: Re: SC - OT- How do you cook a pig?

Last November my husband cooked a pig in a big oil drum smoker. He started 
it about 5 in the morning and it took all day. He didn't use a spit but the 
pig was small enough that two people could flip it. In my youth I attended 
parties where the featured attraction was a gargantuan pig roasted in a 
pit. I don't remember a spit ever being used, instead the pig was wrapped 
in chicken wire so it could be flipped using poles. Basted with a 
vinegar-based mop containing lots of red pepper flakes.

This month's Saveur magazine contains an article about a fellow who does 
pig roasts. He uses a homemade smoker fashioned from an oil drum, and a 
spit that runs on a garage door opener motor.

Searching online for "pig roast" will turn up a couple of websites with 
instructions and photos.

Amanda
Acanthus Books
http://www.acanthus-books.com

Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 03:32:18 +0200
From: Thomas Gloning <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: SC - Rumpolt recipes for Spensaw (sucking pig, porkling)

The Rumpolt recipes for "Spensaw" (Spanferkel, suckling pig) are online at:
http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gloning/rumpspen.htm

Thanks Gwen Cat!

Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 21:35:10 -0000
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Local meat prices - OOP

>Question for the list:  If the pig roaster weights 32#, how much usable meat is
>there?  They leave the skin on and head, etc. I thought this would be a cool
>high table dish, with someone trained to carve, carving & serving at table.
>
>Whaddaya think?
>
>Liadan

We did two whole pigs for a hunt themed event a couple of years ago.  We 
took our "pig roaster" in the back of someones truck and I picked up the two 
pigs and put them on ice in my car top carrier.

For the "presentation" we put eyes of radishes, an apple in the mouth and an 
arrow through its head.  We placed it on a foil covered sheild we borrowed 
from one of the fighters garnished with greens and had it marched in through 
the hall.  Servers followed with platters of carved meat from the other pig. 

  The 'trophy' was made in great spectacle of presentation and laid on a 
small table set in front of the head table.  It was great fun!

Olwen

From: upsxdls_osu at ionet.net
Date: Tue, 12 Jun 2001 12:08:49 -0500 (CDT)
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Das Boke redaction

Two of the Mooneschadowe cooks group got together this weekend and redacted the
following recipe:8. Ein gebraten gef=FCltes ferhelin (A roasted filled young pig)
     Ain gebraten gef=FC ultes ferhelin mache also. Nim ein verkelin, daz drier wuchen alt si und br=FCe daz k=FCele und ziuhe im daz har allez abe, daz man ez iht wunde. so sol man im umme den rans ussene die hut lazzen und loese beide fleisch und gebeine abe. und allez daz ez in dem libe hat an die klawen, die ez nidennen hat an den f=FCezzen. und nime des fleisches daz dor uz gezogen ist wol als zwai eier und siude ez vil nach gar. und nime danne daz und spec und hackez tu rowe eyer dor zu. und einen sniten botes und peterlin krut. und saltz zu mazze und f=FC lle da mit daz ferkelin niht alzu vol. und forne den munt und legez sanfte in einen kezzel. laz ez erwallen daz die hut iht zubreche. so nim ez denne und lege ez uf einen h=FClzinen rost und brate ez sanfte, alz ez denne wol geroest si. so nim ein bret und lege daz uf eine sc=FC zzeln. mache uf daz bret vier steckelln und elelde daz bret mit eime blat von eyern und setze daz verkelin dar uf. eleide ez auch mit eime blate und laz im die oren dar uz gen und den munt und trage ez hin.

     Make also a roasted filled young pig. Take a young pig, which is three weeks old and soak it cool and boil the hair off in that, which one stirs up with whatever (some utensil). So one should remove the skin, starting around the belly and loose both flesh and bones down and all that it has in the body and the claws, which it very frequently has on the hooves. (Basically, skin the pig starting from a cut in the belly.) And take the meat that is pulled thereout (out of the belly) as well as two eggs and boil it a while until ready, and take then that and fat and hack it. Add raw eggs thereto and a slice of bread and parsley (and) herb and salt to mass (appropriately) and fill the young pig with that, not too full, and before the mouth and lay the pig gently in a kettle. Let it simmer, that it does not breaks the meat. So take it then and lay it on a      wooden grate and roast it gently. When it is then well roasted, so take a board and lay it there on a dish. Make on that board 4 sticks (possibly as handles) and dress that board with a leaf of eggs and set that young pig there on. Dress it also with a leaf and allow it to go in the ears and the mouth and carry it out.

Since prepared 3 month old pig is very expensive, we decided to adapt this
recipe into stuffed pork loin roast.

Ingredients:

12 slices stale bread
1 cup cooked chopped pork
2 hard boiled eggs
2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 Tbsp. dried sage
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup broth from cooking the pork

We dried the bread in the oven and broke it into small pieces.  Chopped the
hard boiled eggs, then added all the other ingredients and mixed well.  We had
the butcher cut open the boneless pork loin roast, as for a jelly-roll.  We
opened the roast, filled it with the stuffing and tied it.  We baked it at 350
degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes, then removed the cover and continued to bake
for another 20 to 30 minutes. We allowed it to stand an additional 15 minutes
before cutting.

It turned out beautifully.  Each slice spiraled the meat and dressing.  The
meat was fork-tender, and seasoned by the dressing.  All of the tasters were
impressed by both the flavor and appearance of the dish.  We served it with
roasted carrots and home-made chunky applesauce, as we plan for the feast.

Any suggestions or comments?

Lady Liadan

Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2001 09:36:00 -0500
From: "Debra Hense" <DHense at ifmc.org>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Online Pennsic Pity Party

A whole roasted suckling pig.
 Von Guter Spiese with Translation by Alia Atlas

8. Ein gebraten gef=FCltes ferhelin (A roasted filled young pig)
 Ain gebraten gef=FC ultes ferhelin mache also. Nim ein verkelin, daz drier wuchen alt si und br=FCe daz k=FCele und ziuhe im daz har allez abe, daz man ez iht wunde. so sol man im umme den rans ussene die hut lazzen und loese beide fleisch und gebeine abe. und allez daz ez in dem libe hat an die klawen, die ez nidennen hat an den f=FCezzen. und nime des fleisches daz dor z gezogen ist wol als zwai eier und siude ez vil nach gar. und nime danne daz und spec und hackez tu rowe eyer dor zu. und einen sniten botes und peterlin krut. und saltz zu mazze und f=FC lle da mit daz ferkelin niht alzu vol. und forne den munt und legez sanfte in einen kezzel. laz ez erwallen daz die hut iht zubreche. so nim ez denne und lege ez uf einen h=FClzinen rost und brate ez sanfte, alz ez denne wol geroest si. so nim ein bret und lege daz uf eine sc=FC zzeln. mache uf daz bret vier steckelln und elelde daz bret mit eime blat von eyern und setze daz verkelin dar uf. eleide ez auch mit eime blate und laz im die oren dar uz gen und den munt und trage ez hin.

 Make also a roasted filled young pig. Take a young pig, which is three weeks old and soak it cool and boil the hair off in that, which one stirs up with whatever (some utensil). So one should remove the skin, starting around the belly and loose both flesh and bones down and all that it has in the body and the claws, which it very frequently has on the hooves. (Basically, skin the pig starting from a cut in the belly.) And take the meat that is pulled thereout (out of the belly) as well as two eggs and boil it a while until ready, and take then that and fat and hack it. Add raw eggs thereto and a slice of bread and parsley (and) herb and salt to mass (appropriately) and fill the young pig with that, not too full, and before the mouth and lay the pig gently in a kettle. Let it simmer, that it does not breaks the meat. So take it then and lay it on a wooden grate and roast it gently. When it is then well roasted, so take a board and lay it there on a dish. Make on that board 4 sticks (possibly as handles) and dress that board with a leaf of eggs and set that young pig there on. Dress it also with a leaf and allow it to go in the ears and the mouth and carry it out.

Kateryn de Develyn

Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 21:53:09 +0200
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Online Pennsic Pity Party

>A whole roasted suckling pig.
> Von Guter Spiese with Translation by Alia Atlas
>
>8. Ein gebraten gef=FCltes ferhelin (A roasted filled young pig)<snip>

Funny you should mention this recipe.  Thomas Gloning recently sent me this
critique;  it includes this recipe as an example of the mistakes found in
the Atlas translation.  You will note there is a significant difference in
the two translations:

"<< Ein Buch von guter spise >>
Here is the passage [without the notes] about the internet-version; it
is taken from the new Melitta Weiss Adamson edition and English
translation:

"An edition, Italian translation and study of the W=FCrzburg-recipes was
published in 1991; and in 1993 the first English translation appeared as
Volume II of Cariadoc's Cookbook Collection, a desktop publication distributed
by the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). The translation was done by a
certain Alia Atlas, then a student at MIT, who in her translation Notes
describes it as a literal translation based on Maurer-Constant's
1844-edition and the manuscript- facsimile in Hayer. Atlas subsequently
made her source-text, and her English translation available on the
Internet. Although she was aware of Hajek's 1958- edition and included it
in her list of sources, she provided no
explanation why she went with the older and much inferior 1844-edition.
Judging from the translation, Atlas' command of modern German seems
rudimentary at best, and her knowledge of Middle High German practically
non-existent, throughout the text she makes innumerable grammatical and
lexical errors. She confuses singular and plural forms of nouns and
pronouns, present tense forms and past participles of verbs, omits entire
passages, does not recognize the Middle High German negation iht as such,
and hence translates the sentences or phrases in the positive, mistakes the
short forms of German verbs such as geleit (for geleget), and git (for
gibet) for different verbs, and consistently translates the introductory
phrase Wilt du machen (if you want to make) as How you want to make.  Her
strong tendency to look for the English words closest in spelling to
the Middle High German ones further obscures the meaning of many recipes:
also (thus) appears as "also" in the translation, weich (soft) as "white,"
smal (narrow) as "small," so (then) as "so," singe (sing) as "singe,"
schelen (peel) as "shell," ale (eel) as "all," minzen (mint) as "mince,"
and saltz zu massen (salt to taste) as "salt to mass." The two frequently
used verbs malen (to grind), and rueren (to stir) pose particular problems
for the translator, and together with the faulty German edition used as the
base-text, lead to some highly unusual cooking instructions: a simple
phrase like ruerez mit ey[n]er schinen (stir it with a stick) in Atlas'
translation appears as "give it impetus with eggwhites" (recipe 49), or mal
kumel (grind caraway) as "flavor caraway" (recipe 48). When it is the main
ingredients which are mistranslated, the character of a dish can change
dramatically: a recipe for morchen (morels) then becomes a recipe for
carrots (recipe 32, 79), and swemme (mushrooms) can be transformed into
swans (recipe 32). Naturally, recipes which are difficult to decode even
for experts in Middle High German, are rendered completely incomprehensible
by this translator. The recipe for suckling pig (recipe 8) shall serve as
an example:

Translation by Alia Atlas:
Make also a roasted filled young pig. Take a young pig, which is three weeks old
and soak it cool and boil the hair off in that, which one stirs up with whatever
(some utensil). So one should remove the skin, starting around the belly
and loose both flesh and bones down and all that it has in the body and the
claws, which it very frequently has on the hooves. (Basically, skin the pig starting
from a cut in the belly.) And take the meat that is pulled thereout (out of
the belly) as well as two eggs and boil it a while until ready, and take
then that and fat and hack it. Add raw eggs thereto and a slice of bread
and parsley (and) herb and salt to mass (appropriately) and fill the young
pig with that, not too full, and before the mouth and lay the pig gently in
a kettle. Let it simmer, that it does not breaks[!] the meat. So take it
then and lay it on a wooden grate and roast it gently. When it is then well
roasted, so take a board and lay it there on a dish. Make on that board 4
sticks (possibly as handles) and dress that board with a leaf of eggs and
set that young pig there on. Dress it also with a leaf and allow it to go
in the ears and the mouth and carry it out.

Translation by Melitta Weiss Adamson:
A stuffed roasted suckling pig you prepare the following way: Take a
suckling pig, which is three weeks old, and scald it. Let it cool, and
remove all the
bristles without tearing it. You should leave the outer skin around the belly.
Remove both meat and bones and everything that it has in its body, down to the
hooves which it has at the end of its legs. Take the meat which has been
removed as well as two eggs, and cook this until almost done. Then chop it
together with bacon, add raw eggs, one slice of bread, parsley, and salt to
taste. Stuff the suckling pig with that, not too much, though, and stuff
the mouth. Put it gently into a kettle, let it boil without damaging the
skin. Then take it, put it on a wooden grill, and grill it on low heat.
When it is well roasted, take a board and put it on top of a platter. Fix
four sticks on the board, and cover the board with a thin layer of
egg-crepe. Put the suckling pig on it, cover it with dough as well, let the
ears show and the mouth, and serve."

Cindy

From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roast piggy portions
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 21:14:07 +0000

The caterers are probably saying a pound or more per person because they are
including the weight of the bones and loss.  It could even be higher.  Whole
pigs are not all that difficult to cook, just stay attentive with a spritzer
bottle for flare ups.  If you begin with two smaller pigs you have much less
waste than with one larger one.  Handling two is easier also.  I can stick
two 60 pound pigs in my cartop carrier quite nicely (of course getting them
up there and back down is a trick).  Talk to your butcher about the price
difference between large and smaller pigs.  The smaller ones are usually
cheaper.  It seems if you go with two 85 pound pigs you should be more than
set considering the rest of the menu.

Olwen

>When serving a roast piggy as part of a feast, how do you estimate the size
>of the uncooked beast you're going to need?  We're looking at 175 people
>including the head table, menu to include three other meat dishes plus a
>fair number of veggies and starches.  I was hoping to contract it out to
>some professionals, but it's looking to be an expensive prospect.  The
>caterers have told me to estimate a pound per person, but with all the
>other meats on the menu, I think that may be a bit generous.
>
>If I have to, I can rent a cooker and do the thing myself, but that involves
>appointing someone to watch the thing all day, and running the risk that it
>won't cook in time.
>
>Vicente

From: "Siegfried Heydrich" <baronsig at peganet.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roast piggy portions
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 16:23:20 -0500

    You have to allow for the fact that skin, bones, head, and the like will
not be consumed (unless you're feeding mongols), so you're going to lose
close to half of the gross weight right off the bat. And if you don't have
someone who's experienced at carving a carcass, you're going to lose even
more. A pound per person isn't that far out of line . . .

    Sieggy

From: "Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pit roast Pig
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 10:36:11 -0400

> We are being given the opportunity to pit roast a whole pig in a month's
> time. We have the pit (almost dug), we have the pig ready for slaughtering
> (by the professional butcher). Now all we need is a period method of cooking
> it and some sauces and stuff to go with it. Does anyone have any ideas?
>
> Yours in service,
> Mistress Nicolette Dufay OP, OWL, LOG, OST, AoA
> House Woodrose, Canton of Krae Glas
> Barony of Stormhold, Kingdom of Lochac

Well, it kinda depends on what you intend to do with the pig- what sort of
meat are you planning to get? There are basicly two intended results. The
first is "dry" roasted, where you're intending to have an entire pig roasted
as one might roast anything else- rather "grilled", actually. The second
method is what it done with "real" barbecue, where the pig is roasted in its
own juices until it's falling apart. Not only do Southern Americans use this
method, but it is also used quite extensively by the Polynesian folks too.
It's very low-tech- I suspect some variant of this method has been used
throughout history, but so far, I haven't found any specific documentation-
Sabina Welserin, for example refers to roast piglet, but never details the
method(s) of roasting. One can only assume that the roasting of animals was
such a common thing, that it wasn't mentioned, sorta like we moderns might
refer to our "morning ritual" but seldom describe the details- urinate,
brush teeth, wash face, pick pimples, that sort of thing.

Let me know what you want, and I'll try to help.

Phlip, 

From: "Diamond Randall" <ringofkings at mindspring.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 21:8:9 -0700
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re:Pit roast pig

> We are being given the opportunity to pit roast a whole pig in a month's
> time. We have the pit (almost dug), we have the pig ready for slaughtering
> (by the professional butcher). Now all we need is a period method of cooking
> it and some sauces and stuff to go with it. Does anyone have any ideas?

Inadequate info provided.  "Pig" starts at about 20kg live weight up to 200+kg. or "Hog".  What do you mean?  Your pit will have to be about twice as  deep as the carcass on it side.  You will need a heck of a lot of hardwood for  coals, preferably oak, ash or hickory species.  No softwoods or eucalyptus.
   You can throw in fruitwood like apple or pear for a bit of flavor.  You  build thebig fire beside the pit, not in it.  You want lots of live red hot coals,  not burning wood in the pit.  I will have to consult by pit roasting expert for  details of putting coals and the pig in the pit where the pig can be recovered  whole without being charred black.  If I recall the pig is covered with some kind of  wet canvas and wet vegetation and a wet tarp is placed over this until the  pig is buried in an insulative layer.  Every several hours, the tarp is lifted  and more coals added.  This is a round-the-clock procedure for 2 to 3 days depending  on the dressed weight of the pig.  This is a rather exhaustive procedure.
   Inproperly following procedures of keeping coals and cover can result in irregular  heat distribution and lots of nasty bacteria problems.  I will try to get  more detailed information if you like later. I am rather curious however that you are getting the pig professionally butchered. Why?  Is your butcher a member of your group?  We shoot the pig or  stick it in the caratoids right next to where we will cook it.
  It is only  necessary to wash the carcass off and hang it for essentially field dressing to clean out the entrails.
  You can take a small propane torch with a wide flame head and sing off all  the bristle. If you were to actually be period about this, you would be hanging the  pig and collecting all the blood draining from it for pudding.  The organs  would be promptly claimed and grilled by the cooks (if they could get away with  it) otherwise, the kidneys, liver, lungs, testicles, etc. would be claimed for the  table of the nobles as the preferred parts of the animal.
   Don't forget the head for the  brains either. It is our policy at Cumberland Centre that game animals such as deer or  whole animals (as you are attempting) be the subject of butchering classes  and that those who would participate view the entire process if possible, including the actual killing and gutting process.
  If you as a cook are going to "be  period", we expect you not to be wimpish about the conversion of a live animal to  cuts of meat.  We have had had some good success with this, including several  ladies actually claiming the scrotums of bucks being processed to make change  purses. Good luck on your endeavor and let me know if you want me to inquire of my pitsman for further details.

Akim

From: "chirhart_1" <chirhart_1 at netzero.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re:Pit roast pig
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2003 00:18:03 -0700

We always put rocks over the coals in the pit.Wet leaves or a piece of non
galvanized tin or metal next.
Then the pig wrapped in first clean soaking canvas. To this another wet
piece of canvas then several dry pieces.Over this you place the dirt from
the pit . Then you hope it does not rain. After 12 to 15 hours later
carefully pull out dirt, coverings then the cooked pig .If all is well the
pig should be falling apart and tinder. The coals should be at least 2 feet
in depth .  Much easier to rent a pig cooker. Then you can watch it.
      Ps This will work for up to a140 to 150 Pig or hog if you must.

 From : Chirhart

Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 11:07:37 -0400
From: "Christine Seelye-King" <kingstaste at mindspring.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Whole Hog (long
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Here is the information I just printed out for my lord, who will be doing
this same thing at Pennsic.  Good Luck!
Mistress Christianna

Here is a recipe from about 1660, from The Complete Cook by
Rebecca price for roasted pig from Williamsburg VA .

To Roast A Pig: A Very Good Why
	After your pigg is scalded drye the inside with a cloth, then spitt it and
put into the Belly thereof a handful of sage, a piece of butter, and a
crust of bread, then sew it up and lay it to the fire, and flower it very
thicke all over, and as it drops off flower it again, and so roast it with
a quick fire till it be almost enough and the coat thereof crisp, then with
a drye cloath wuipe all the flower clean off, and when it is brown and
crisp send it to the table with sawce made of the gravie that runs from it
in the roasting, butter being melted therein with some chopped sage, and
the brains of the pig.

Taillevent recommends roast pork be eaten with verjuice, and says some
people put garlic, onions, wine, and verjuice in the pan with the
drippings from the meat and make a sauce with that. Kind of like sauce
Robert without the mustard.

He says of stuffed roast suckling pig that while some lazy persons eat
it with Cameline Sauce, it should be served with a hot Yellow Pepper
Sauce. Of that, Poivre Jaunet, he says to grind ginger, long pepper,
saffron -- and some people add in cloves with a little verjuice -- and
toast; infuse this in vinegar (or verjuice) and boil it when you are
about to serve your meat.

Something Taillevent doesn't recommend for roast pork, but which happens
to be excellent with it, is Garlic Jance, made from ginger, garlic and
almonds, ground, infused in verjuice and boiled until thickened. He says
some people put white wine in it too. It's a little like a modern Greek
Skordalia...

Adamantius

Modern Technique from an on-line source, probably someone from the "Memphis
in May" Cookoff -
Basic "How-To" for Hosting a HOG ROAST:
Order your pig from a specialty meat packer, grocery store or local locker;
often 7 days advance notice is necessary. You will also need a
specially-made "hog cooker," a grill made to accommodate the large size of
the butterflied hog.

Makes about 30-40 pounds of chopped pork, enough to serve 50-70 people:
· 1 75-100-pound dressed pig
· .5 pound salt
· 60 pounds charcoal briquets
· Barbecue sauce

Split backbone to allow pig to lay flat, being careful not to pierce skin.
Trim and discard any excess fat. Sprinkle salt inside cavity. Set pig aside.

Place 20 pounds of the charcoal in large grill; pour 1 quart charcoal
lighter  fluid over top and ignite. Let burn until charcoal has turned
ash-grey. Place  heavy gauge wire, about the size of the pig, over grill, 13
inches from coals.

Place pig flat, skin side up, on wire surface. Close lid of cooker; cook at
225 degrees F. for 6 hours, adding additional lighted coals as needed to
maintain temperature in cooker.

Place a second piece of wire over pig, sandwiching pig between the two
layers of wire. Turn pig over; remove wire from top. Insert meat thermometer
in thigh, do not touch bone.

Baste meat with barbecue sauce; pour sauce in rib cavity to measure one
inch.
Close pork cooker lid; cook at 225 degrees F. for two more hours or until
meat thermometer registers 160 degrees F. and no pink meat is visible when
hams and shoulder are cut.

Slice and chop meat; serve with barbecue sauce, sandwich buns, cole slaw,
and your other favorite side dishes.
Tips:
· Allow about 1 .5 pounds carcass weight per person.
· Do not exceed 225 degrees F. cooking temperature during the first two
hours of cooking; the idea is to slowly cook the pig.
· Temperature control is more difficult in an open grill; allow for 1 hour
of cooking time per 10 pounds of pig.
· Additional coals started in a small grill outside of the cooker should be
added as needed to maintain proper temperature.
· Distribute more coals under the shoulders and hams and less in the center
for more uniform cooking.
· Allow two quarts of barbecue sauce per 75 pounds of pork.

Equipment For Making the Job Easier:
· Specially-made hog cooker
· Extra small grill or "burn barrel" for starting coals
· Squirt container of water for possible heat source flare-ups
· Knife, cleaver, chopping block for chopping roasted hog (a new, clean
garden hoe does this job well)
· Thick rubber gloves for handling the hog
· Two pieces of wire approximately 3 .5-feet x 4-feet to be used for
turning, sturdy enough to support carcass weight

Cuts of pork

· Remove the hind foot with a cut through the tuber calcis. Remove the front
foot with a cut that is just distal to the ulna and radius.
· Remove the leg with a cut that starts between sacral vertebrae 2 and 3 and
which is then directed towards the tensor fascia lata.
· The cutting line is then changed so that most of the tensor fascia lata is
incorporated into the leg.
· The butt and picnic are removed together as a shoulder, by a cut that is
that is perpendicular to the vertebral column and which starts between
thoracic vertebrae 2 and 3. The butt is separated from the picnic by a cut
that skims past the ventral region of the cervical vertebrae at a tangent.
This keeps the top of the picnic relatively square.
· The jowl is removed from the picnic with a cut that follows the crease
lines in the skin.
· The remainder of the side of pork is split into the loin and belly by a
curved cut that follows the curvature of the vertebral column. One end of
the curve is just ventral to the ilium, the other end is just ventral to the
blade of the scapula.
· The loin may be divided into a continuous sequence of chops. From anterior
to posterior these are the
· rib chops,
· center loin chops and
· tenderloin chops.
They can all be cooked satisfactorily by dry heat. Alternatively, the
thoracic, lumbar and iliac regions may be left intact as large roasts,

· the rib end roast,
· center loin roast and
· tenderloin end roast.
· The psoas muscles may be removed from the lumbar region to make
tenderloin, and the longissimus dorsi and adjacent small muscles may be
removed from the vertebral column, and rolled and tied to make boned and
rolled loin roast.
· A crown roast can be made by twisting the thoracic vertebral column into a
circle so that the stumps of the ribs radiate outwards like the points of a
crown. This facilitates the rapid carving and distribution of portions at a
banquet.
· The longissimus dorsi may be cured and smoked to make Canadian Style bacon
or (as it is more often called within Canada) peameal bacon and back bacon.
· The rib cage plus its immediately adjacent muscles are removed from the
belly to make the spare ribs.
· The remaining muscles of the abdomen, together with those that overlap the
ribcage for their insertion, constitute the side of pork. Side of pork may
be cured and smoked to make slab bacon.
· The picnic may be sliced to make picnic shoulder chops through the
humerus, or it can be partly subdivided to make picnic shoulder roasts.
Picnic shoulder roasts may be boned and rolled, or smoked and cured in a
variety of ways.
· The butt, or Boston butt, is usually divided into a number of blade steaks
that are cut from dorsal to ventral through the scapula. The more anterior
part then forms a butt roast.
· The leg may be subdivided to create, from proximal to distal, the butt end
roast and the shank end roast. Alternatively, the leg may be cured and
smoked to make ham.

· The feet, the hocks, the knuckles and the tail can be baked or cooked in
liquid and consumed enthusiastically with a large quantity of draft beer

Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 12:07:30 -0400
From: "Jane Massey" <dylansmom at cox.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re:Has anyone roasted a pig on a spit.
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

I've actually done this twice.  Once on a open spit and once with a rented pig cooker. The spit method worked, but took much longer to cook, I barely had enough time to get it carved before feast. I highly suggest the pig cooker method.  Less cooking time, easier to cover in inclement weather and certainly easier to control temp.  If you have access to military bases or someone in your group does, I'd highly suggest looking to rent one from them.  They are significantly less to rent (usually with a deposit that you get back).  Start cooking on Friday evening (hopefully you have someone to stand watch while you sleep).  You should have no problem getting the pig up to safe temp by a 6 pm feast.

Lady Lavender de Morten
Barony of Tir-y-Don, Kingdom of Atlantia

Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 09:39:13 -0700
From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Has anyone roasted a pig on a spit?

Yeke Delger wrote:
>>>
Hello all, I am Yeke Delger, Chevetain of the Barony of Stromgaard Cooking Guild, Kingdom of An Tir.
<<<

Welcome and well met!  I am not familiar with that particular job title, I take it from context that this is a chief [or chef] type position.  Where does it come from and what does it mean exactly?

>>>>
As the Chevetain of this newly founded cooking guild (6/03), I have
been asked to roast a whole pig on a spit at our upcoming Fall Festival & Sergeantry Trials. I have never done this before, and so far as I can find out neither has anyone else in our Barony.
<<<<

I have not done so myself, but I too am a big believer in learning from other people's trial
and error.  All human knowlege can be found on the Internet, no matter how trivial, and I find
several pages on this topic:

http://www.outlawcook.com/Page1515.html
http://www.bbq-porch.org/recipes/html/C36.htm
http://www.bbq.com/recipes/pigroast.html
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bipolarplanet/howtos.html [HOW TO ROAST A MASTODON]

Now, if it were me I would probably go for the pit method. It seems to me that less of the heat is lost to the cold cold air that way.    This method is seen in  Táin Bó Cúalnge:

‘Go before us to yonder house,’ said Conchobar, ‘and make a fire for me there.’ He kindled a big fire for him.’

‘‘Well,’ said Conchobar, ‘if I now had a roast pig, I should live.’ ‘I will go and fetch one,’said Cú Chulainn. He went off then and saw a man at a cooking-pit in the middle of the wood, with one hand holding his weapons, the other cooking a pig. Great was the fearsomeness of the man. Nevertheless he attacked him and carried off his head and his pig. Afterwards Conchobar ate the pig. ‘Let us go to our house,’ said Conchobar. They met Cúscraid mac Conchobair. He too bore
severe wounds, Cú Chulainn carried him on his back. The three of them went on to Emain Macha.’
[Táin Bó Cúalnge, translation of lines  492-527}
<http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T301012/T301012.html>

OK so it's not an ancient Irish luau but you get the picture.  Other citations describe the digging of two pits, one filled with water, the other filled with rocks and fire kindled therein.  The hot rocks are dropped into the water to heat and boil, and meat is roasted in the dry pit as well.

Have fun and bon appetit!

Dame Selene Colfox
OP, OLC, OHA, ODC, SR etc.

Date: Fri, 01 Aug 2003 06:57:03 -0700
From: aeduin <aeduin at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re:Has anyone roasted a pig on a spit.
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

>>>
In that case might I suggest you rig the fire with a reflector behind and 
above the pig.  The traditional material would be a chunk of old 
corrugated roofing.  Don't burn it, it's galvanized and the zinc isn't 
good for you.

Simon Sinneghe
Briaroak, Summits, An Tir
<<<

What they did in the Philippines while I was growing up is make four 
plywood walls (sheets of plywood stuck in the ground) with a notch cut in 
one end for the spit handle to stick out so the poor kid shanghaied to turn 
it didn't roast too.

AEduin

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 04:19:44 +0000
From: j2rhat at comcast.net
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Roasted pig
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Hello again to all, it is I, Yeke Delger. Well, the time finally came for me to roast the pig I was asking you all about. Olwen's friend Ed and his wife sent me great information on what to stuff it with and a rub to put on it, along with exactly how they did it a few weeks ago.

The stuffing consisted of 5 #'s of carrots, 3 #'s of onions, 2 heads of celery, Lots and lots of garlic, sage, and rosemary. The rub was 2 c of garlic powder, 2c of onion powder, 1c of course ground pepper, 1c of paprika, 3c of kosher salt ( I know it is ironic, it was all I had in a large quanity), 1c of fennel ground, 1 qt of olive oil.

I stuffed and rubbed it on Tuesday night and sewed the pig closed with thin stainless wire.

As luck would have it, there is a burn ban on in our area, so we had no choice but to rent a pig roaster after all. I was some what relieved that I did not have to bribe the constab to turn the pig every fifteen minutes all night until My Lord and I got up for the 4am constab duty. So, with the pig roaster, I decided I did not have to put the pig on until 8am or so. Saturday morning we got everything set up and got the pig going with a generator to turn the spit so I didn't have to do it all day myself. The pig was started by 8:30am, this was fine because I allowed an hour extra if we needed it. The pig was cooking, the motor was turning the spit, the generator was chugging along...    About 9:30am, the generator ran out of gas, the pig stopped turning, the grease was dripping on the coals... before I could get out of the chair and take two steps towards it, the flames were flaring up under the pig. By the time I took the 8 or so steps to where the generator and motor for turning the spit was located, my beautiful pig was ablaze. In my slight panic, I started to crank the spit by hand, (as I said in my panic), I turned the pig very quickly, flinging the pig grease all over the inside of the pig roaster. We now had a proper inferno. Flames shooting out at me trying to turn the spit, causing me to retreat several times as another gentleman was shaking his 12oz water bottle on the flames trying to knock them down. On one abandoning of the spit I dragged our back up generator over and tried to start it. Forgetting to turn on the gas valve or setting the choke. Now the flames are shooting out and around the top of the roaster, 6 to 8 feet in the air (remember burn ban, no open flames, under trees, surrounded by very dry grass field in which we are all camping in). I think you may realize my panic and fear now. So, we have 3-12oz water bottles, all have been thrown on our "inferno" showing no result. I, in a last ditch effort grab the fire extinguisher fully knowing if I use it we will not be able to eat the pig and all the work I have done so far would be for naught. Somebody was looking out for me though because I was struggling to find the pin in the extinguisher as two more gentleman rushed up carrying 5 gallon water jugs and got the thing under control. By then we got the back up generator started, and the spit was turning, the pig was black, but it looked like it was only a flesh wound and I thought and hoped the meat would be fine. The rest of the cooking was uneventful, thank goodness. At 4:30pm the pig reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees, we removed it, put an apple in it's mouth and had a presentation to the Baron and Baroness, who promptly sliced off a piece. With the Baron moaning in pleasure, the Baroness informed us it was to die for (good thing, I thought that morning one of us may die because of this pig). They offered pieces to a visiting Baroness and several Knights, before we took it away and carved it. I can say a whole 72 pound pig takes an hour to carve. The pig got rave reviews, and most people found the "crispy" skin to be wonderful. The Baroness, thought it was such a great idea I had to sear the pig early and then cook it slowly the rest of the day. 

I recommend everyone try a whole pig at least once, but if you borrow someone's quiet generator make certain you find out exactly how much gas it has when you start. I knew my loud generator we used for a back up was full of gas and would run at least 4 hours. The one we used, because it was quiet and would not interrupt court, we had no idea what it had in it and the owner of it was off site getting his gas can filled.

So, thank you all again for all your help. The pig was superb and there was none left. I have now been named as the official Baronial pig roaster, along with my other jobs and titles. I think I should just be called "Sucker", I never know when to say no. Therefore, I am currently Chevetain of the Cooking Guild, Chronicler, on Retinue, Chirugeon, and Autocrat for our Founding Revel in February. Yes, I also work full time outside the house, in construction.

Yeke Delger, AoA 

P.S.
(I got my AoA, since I last wrote you all. But beinging Mongolian, there is no title for Lady)

Date: Sun, 9 May 2004 19:54:06 -0700
From: "Wanda Pease" <wandap at hevanet.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Food and squeamishness
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

This brought up fond memories.  Once upon a time in a Principality far, far away (which is now a Mighty Kingdom (tm) we had a Coronet Tourney and Feast. These took place at Frankenstein Castle (yup, a real one does exist) in the hills above Darmstadt.

The manager of the modern Gasthaus attached to the castle ruins had never heard of the SCA at the time, but was familiar with the "Hauntings" put  on by the local American military communities around Halloween and was  happy to work with us.  We designed the menu around chicken and pork so the carnivores would have a choice (at that time vegetarians were not an  issue except as food).  The manager was also a chef himself and suggested  small whole roast pigs and a total per person cost of about $12.00 along with allowing us to bring in desserts and our own beverages, except beer. Needless to say, we were happy to go along at that price.  He and his  staff also volunteered to wear tabards decorated with the Baronial badge.

The big day came, and the staff processed in bearing 5 whole roasted  little pigs complete with apples in their mouths and red cherry eyes.  The manager/chef proceeded to do the whole sharpen the carving knives and lovingly dismember them in the center of the dining area to the delight of the populace.  Talk about melt in your mouth goodness.

The only squeamishness came from the fact that he beheaded the piglets  and presented the heads to the high table.  The Princess then had the  "honor" of having 5 little piglet faces "smiling" at her with their little red eyes fixed on her face.  A guest from the East, Mistress Anne of Hatfield, quietly reached over and gently edged the headliners around so they were staring out at the crowd instead of [at] the Coronets!

Regina
Old Used Drachenwald Autocrat

Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:38:18 -0600
From: Michael Gunter <countgunthar at hotmail.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Pig Box
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

OMG! Want!
http://www.offalgood.com/site/photos/put-your-pig-in-a-box/

That's the easiest way I've found for roasting a
whole pig.

The rest of the site is pretty cool, too.

Gunthar

Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:57:50 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: "Bhadra" <bhadradharma at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pig Box
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Hey, Gunthar did you see the home made one? Much better!
http://chadzilla.typepad.com/chadzilla/2007/11/china-box.html

Sabina

From: Chris Zakes <dontivar at gmail.com>
Date: July 5, 2010 10:26:46 AM CDT
To: Barony of Bryn Gwlad <bryn-gwlad at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Bryn-gwlad] food workshop

At 08:51 AM 7/5/2010, you wrote:
< Should I mention the whole roast pig story (it started with a live pig, and things went downhill from there) from Ansteorra's first Crown Tournament?

       -Tivar Moondragon >

<< Yes Uncle Tivar, tell us a story please?
Gwyneth >>

Okay, this is second- or third-hand, so I make no guarantees about the overall accuracy of the story. Bearing that disclaimer in mind...

The fellow who was in charge of the feast at First Crown was relatively new and very gung-ho. I think he had some modern cooking credentials, but I'm not sure what they were. He decided that he wanted to do a *really* period feast, starting with a live pig. So he and a buddy went out to a local farm and bought a pig, then took it to an isolated area to slaughter it. This involved shooting it, rather than cutting its throat (which, as I understand things, is the more usual method.) This got a little exciting because it took two or three tries before the pig was willing to call the shot. Anyway, they've now got a couple of hundred pounds of freshly-dead pork in the back of a pickup truck, and Crown is still a couple of weeks away. It was decided that it'd probably be a good idea to put the carcass in a freezer so it didn't spoil.

The site for Crown was completely primitive--it had a dirt road leading in (which became a *mud* road after it rained for a good part of Thursday and Friday--but that's a different story) trees, grass and lots of uneven ground. They brought in Porta-Cans, but the only running water was a stream along the back edge of the site. The cook had gotten on-site a couple of days early, set up his camp and kitchen area, dug a pit and filled it with wood in anticipation of roasting the pig over the coals. The one factor he didn't consider was how long it takes to thaw out a pig that's been sitting in a freezer for two weeks. He started cooking sometime Saturday morning, and by feast time *some* of the meat was cooked, some of it was thawed but raw and a significant portion was still frozen solid.

So nobody except the Head Table got much pork, but fortunately there were other things on the menu. (Like a stew that I remember with horror--I was helping to carry one of those giant stew/chili pots and at one point the stew slopped over the side and into my high-topped "swashbuckler" boots. Imagine walking around with half a quart of stew oozing around your ankles and squishing between your toes.)

       -Tivar Moondragon

From a discussion in the Facebook Medieval & Renaissance Cooking and Recipes group.

Andi Houston 
My apprentice neatly side-stepped most of the usual challenges of roasted a whole pig for feast by cutting the pig into five pieces and roasting the pieces separately in the oven, and then reassembling the animal for presentation, complete with helmeted cock. It was brilliant. 

I would like to add, for those of you maybe not so familiar with medieval subtleties, that the helmeted cock was in fact a chicken with a pastry helmet, not an unmentionable part of the pig's anatomy. Just to make that clear.

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	whole-pig-msg	Page  of