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Title: Souse or Pickled Belly Pork
Categories: Pickle British Pork
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
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