To Roast Pork
The roasting pieces are the loin, the leg, the saddle, the fillet, the shoulder and the spare rib (which last is found between the shoulder or fore-leg,) and the grisken or back-bone. All roast pork should be well seasoned; rubbed with pepper, salt, or powdered sage or marjoram. Score the skin with a sharp knife, making deep lines at regular distances, about an inch apart. Cross these lines with others, so as to form squares or diamonds. Make a stuffing of minced sage or marjoram leaves; breadcrumbs; if liked, a very little minced onion previously boiled; and some powdered mace. Introduce this stuffing profusely where ever it can be inserted, loosening a piece of the skin, and fastening it down again with a small skewer. In a leg or shoulder you can put in a great deal at the knuckle. In a fillet or large end of the leg, stuff the place from whence you have taken the bone. Put the pork down to roast not very close to the fire, but place it nearer when the skin begins to brown. You can soon baste it with its own gravy; and see that it is thoroughly cooked, before removing it from the spit. After taking up the meat, skim the fat from the gravy, and stir in a little flour to thicken it.
The crackling or skin will be much more crisp and tender if you go all over it with sweet oil, or lard, before you put it in the fire.
Always accompany roast pork with apple sauce, served in a deep dish or a sauce-tureen.
Cold roast pork is very good sliced at tea or breakfast.
Source: Eliza Leslie, Miss Leslie’s New Cookery Book (Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson & Brothers, 1857). http://books.google.com/books?id=FLYpAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
