Heading out to a festival or a Highland games is a great summer day out.
Finding decent grub, however, can be something of a disappointment; a predictable line-up of burger vans and hot dogs. I am not asking for anything elaborate - it's not like I am going in search of lobster mayonnaise - but I was pretty chuffed at one Highland games to discover a vendor who specialised in pulled pork.
This southern American staple properly needs a barbecue pit for the smoke and slow gentle warmth as it cooks overnight, teasing out the juicy melting tenderness of the meat. Hours later, it can be shredded with just two forks and no effort. But you can get away with doing this at home in the oven with outstanding results.
Orthodoxy dictates using pork shoulder, on the bone. Some recipes suggest belly, but most southerners, I imagine, would be horrified. A collar pork, with a layer of fat, works too if you want a smaller, boneless piece of meat. In North Carolina they use the whole pig, but let's leave that to them.
Then there's the rub: purists insist on seasoning only with sugar and salt; some add chilli; others rub in mustard, cider vinegar and seasonings. You could go further with cumin, fennel, cayenne. I guess it's personal. Soft rolls, or a brioche bun if you're feeling decadent, great coleslaw and the essential piquant sauce for smothering, complete the feast.
Six-hour pulled pork
Recipes serve 8
Don't be put off by the length of cooking time: your actual time involved is minimal.
For the meat:
You can choose either a boneless collar pork with good fat covering, weighing around 1.3kg,
or a shoulder of pork, bone in, weighing around 1.6kg
For the rub:
2 flat dessertspoons of table salt
2 flat dessertspoons of caster sugar
1 flat dessertspoon of smoked paprika
Note: If using the boneless collar pork, you will need only half of this salt mix quantity
Method:
1. Heat the oven to 220C/gas mark 8. Combine the sugar, salt and smoked paprika in a bowl and whisk.
2. Take a roasting tray and roll out a long sheet of tin foil which will be big enough to wrap around the meat. Lay the foil in the tray.
3. Place the meat on the prepared roasting tray. Rub one third of the salt mixture over the upper, visible surfaces of the meat with your hands then turn over and repeat on the other side with another third of the salt mix. Reserve the rest of the salt mix. Don't worry if a little of the seasoning mixture falls on to the tin foil as you are rubbing it in.
4. To the tin foil base, add about 100ml of water. Do not pour this over the meat but into the tray. Place the tray as it is, with the tin foil left unwrapped and open, in the oven and roast for 60 minutes. Do not worry if it turns black or burned-looking.
5. After one hour, remove the tray from the oven as quickly as possible and shut the door at once to keep the heat in. Turn down the temperature to 120c/gas mark 1. Add another 100ml of water to the tin foil base then wrap the foil around the meat to make a tightly secured, tent-like tin foil pouch. Ensure it is not against the meat lest it sticks during cooking. Return the tray to the oven. Cook as it is as follows: for the boneless collar pork, allow 5½ hours; for the bone-in piece of shoulder, allow 7 hours. During this time you do not need to do anything to the meat.
6. Remove the tray from the oven and carefully open the tin foil, taking care in case of escaping steam. Insert two forks, and pull apart to test for doneness. It should be meltingly soft with no resistance. The colour of the meat may still have a faint pinkness to it, rather like a cured ham. Do not be concerned; this is not a sign of being underdone. If the meat does not yield easily return, re-wrapped in tin foil, for a further 30 minutes and re-test. If it is soft and yielding, and it really should be, then set the tray on a stable surface and allow the steam to escape for five minutes. Add a dash of water to release any sediment from the base of the tray. While the meat is still hot, lift from the tin foil on to a clean tray and pour over any juices from the pan. Pull apart and shred with two forks. Do not be tempted to remove any outside blackened parts. These "burnt ends" are considered by aficionados to be integral to its authenticity. Shred the meat finely, stirring in the juices collected at the base of the tray. Taste and add more of the reserved salt mix if desired. You can serve at once, while still warm, but some say the flavour improves overnight. You can chill the pulled pork then reheat in a roasting tray covered with tin foil adding a dash of water to the base to prevent it drying. Serve in soft white rolls or brioche buns with coleslaw and generous ladles of barbecue sauce
The essential barbecue sauce
This pleases a very fussy crowd. It is the recipe we have refined as our barbecue sauce for when we do pulled pork on Saturdays for our staff lunch. You don't get a pickier audience than that …
100g dark muscavado sugar
100ml red wine vinegar
100g runny honey
500g tomato ketchup
20ml Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce
25ml Jack Daniels or bourbon
a shot of espresso coffee
Method:
1. Combine the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan. Warm the vinegar gently to allow the sugar to dissolve, then add the honey. Heat carefully to melt and dissolve the honey.
2. Add the Worcestershire sauce and coffee and stir in over a gentle heat to disperse.
3. Carefully whisk in the tomato sauce so it is evenly distributed. Stir in the Jack Daniels then bring to the boil briefly. Remove from the heat to cool then refrigerate.
4. To serve, heat without letting it catch or burn on the base of the pan and serve warm, on the side, to spoon over the pulled pork in generous dollops. Personally, I do not like to stir this through the pork, but rather to ladle it over the pork once the meat is piled up in the rolls.
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