Souse or Pickled Belly Pork

Categories: Pork, Pickles
Yield: 3 Lb

3 lb Piece of pork belly
12 oz Sea salt
1 oz Saltpetre
1 ts Black peppercorns
1 ts Allspice berries
4 oz Light brown sugar [opt'l]

Historically sousing went hand in hand with the autumn slaughter. When the
hams and bacons were started smoking the trotters, ears, cheeks and other
bits went into a brine barrel. Richer farmers used verjuice, spiced wine or
spiced ale.

Use a clean earthen ware crock or a plastic bucket. Clean all your
equipment with a washing soda sdolution befere starting. Make the brine by
heating the salt and saltpetre in 4 pints of water in a large pan. Add the
peppercorns and allspice in a muslim bag; if you want sweet pickled pork
add the sugar also. Boil for 10 min; then let the brine cool and strain it
through a muslim cloth into the pickling crock. When the brine is cold add
the pork, and keep it submerged with a piece of clean boiled wood. Stir the
brine ocassionally with a clean wooden spoon and turn the meat with cleaned
wooden tongs. The meat will be ready in about 3 days depending on the
thickness of the meat. Remove with tongs and cook; serve with broad beans
or puree of split peas.

Extracted from: The Perfect Pickle Book By: David Mabey and David Collison
Published by: BBC Books ISBN: 0 563 21445 7 Posted by: Jim Weller
Posted to MM-Recipes Digest V4 #3 by tbankerd@leading.net on Jan 16, 1999

-----

----------