Roast Pork with Crackling (Schweinebraten)

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 130 °C (conventional). Heat the clarified butter in a roasting tin and brown the shoulder on the meat sides only; the rind stays untouched and unsalted. Remove the meat, heat 400 ml of the stock in the tin, place the meat in rind side down and put it in the oven for 1 hour. This softens the rind so it turns properly crisp later.
2. About 10 minutes before the end of this hour, fry the carrots, celeriac and onions in clarified butter in a hot frying pan until dark brown roasted patches form on the bottom.
3. Take the tin out of the oven and raise the temperature to 160 °C. Remove the meat and put the roasted vegetables into the tin. Score the rind not too deeply in a diamond or square pattern, season the joint all over with salt and pepper, the rind especially generously, and rub with marjoram and thyme if you like. Set it rind side up on the vegetables and cook for a further 1½ hours.
4. About 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time, heat a little clarified butter in the empty vegetable pan and caramelise the icing sugar in it. Stir in the tomato purée, deglaze with the sweet red wine, pour in the remaining 600 ml stock and reduce for about 10 minutes.
5. Take the tin out of the oven and set the temperature to 220 °C (top heat or grill with fan). Strain the roasting juices through a sieve into the gravy base; the vegetables are no longer needed. Put the joint rind side up into the empty tin and roast on the lowest or second-lowest shelf for about 15 minutes, until the crackling is crisp and blistered.
6. While the crackling browns, add the bay leaves, crushed garlic, ginger slices and mustard to the gravy, season with salt and pepper and reduce for about 10 minutes. Thicken lightly with a little cornflour paste if needed and strain the gravy.
7. Let the roast rest for about 10 minutes before carving and serve with the gravy. Potato dumplings or bread dumplings go well with it.

Drink with it

• Dark beer · excellent match

  Munich Dunkel or dark Märzen

  Roasted malt and light sweetness pick up the dark gravy and the crackling, and the carbonation cuts the rind fat.

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• Pale lager · good match

  Pale lager, well chilled

  Mild bitterness and carbonation cut through the rind and gravy without overpowering the meat.

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• Red wine · good match

  Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) or Lemberger, dry

  Red fruit and fine acidity carry the slightly sweet red wine gravy, and moderate tannin stays soft next to the fatty shoulder.

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• Aged rum · good match

  Aged dark rum, neat or with an ice cube, after the meal

  Caramel and vanilla notes from the cask echo the caramelised gravy and the roasted flavours of the crackling.

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