Roast Shoulder of Pork

I'm going to start this post with an admission.  I have done startlingly little research into the world of eating pig.  That's to say, I've eaten my fair share of pork in the 36 years I've been on this planet, but I have not really looked into the bits that don't regularly end up on your dinner plate.  Everything But The Oink kind of snuck up on me last week and since then I have spent some quality time with Fergus Henderson and Anthony Bourdain*.  I have unearthed some fantastic recipes, some of which haven't turned Z's stomach, but I'm no closer to compiling a full list of the composite edible parts for the challenge.

With that in mind and not wanting to lose any time while I rummage around the internet, I decided to crack on with a trusted favourite cut of pork.  Shoulder has been my go to roasting joint for as long as I remember.  It was always my Mum's choice and I think her influence has rubbed off on me.  Mum probably chose it due to cost, but I love the extra fat that you don't get with leg or loin joints.

Before we go any further, it has dawned on me that there will be a lot of talk of fat on Everything But The Oink.  You may well be prepared to read about offal but there are people out there, to whom even the mention of lard would render** them queezy and requiring smelling salts.  I am not going to hide away from the fat. The layers of fat in a shoulder joint shoulder mean that the meat won't dry out during cooking.  You should still pay attention to the cooking time and rest the meat after cooking, to make sure you get a really juicy bit of meat.

Of course it will always help if you have a good lump of pig.  Today was Leeds Farmers Market on Briggate, so I hot footed it into town in the hope of securing a nice bit of pig.  I was really happy when the first stall I hit was Tancred Field Farm's.  Tancred raise rare breed pigs and cattle on their farm to the north of Wetherby.  I know I won't be eating pork of this calibre for every meal in the challenge so it was great to start off with such lovely meat.

Typically you should roast shoulder for 30 minutes per 450g plus 30 minutes at 180˚c.  To make sure I had decent crackling*** I started the roasting at 225˚c and reduced it after half an hour.  As ours was only a small joint it was out of the oven and resting in an hour and a half.  I let the meat rest for the time it took to cook some vegetables.  I also made some apple sauce, it would have been rude not to.

I plan on adding pages for suppliers and a full list of the cuts of meat so that you can cross reference my endeavours better, now if you'll excuse me there are leftovers with my name on them.

*Their books that is.  I have not had the pleasure of meeting either of these culinary muses.
**Oh I fully plan on rendering back fat...I may even salt some!
***You can't have roast pork without crackling, it's like roast beef without Yorkshire Puddings or chicken without stuffing.  You can have the best piece of pork in the world and your roast will be ruined if the crackling isn't up to scratch.