Proper free range  pork is slowly making its way onto the butchery and even supermarket shelves in South Africa, or you can buy direct from farmers.  It is better than ever, thanks to the revival of traditional farming and the rediscovery of heritage breeds. This delicious slow-cooked pork roast, with apple cider or ginger beer, is perfect for a no-fuss Sunday lunch for a big crowd – use either pork shoulder or pork neck.  Braise the meat at least one day before serving to save time on the day. Before eating, slice the meat and rewarm it in its braising liquid. If you want to learn more about free range pork, and tastes how good it is, come to one of  Wickedfood Earth Country Cooking Scho pork cooking classess and lunches – watch our newsletters for details.
 
1 x 2 to 3kg  pork shoulder
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
500g small red onions or shallots
12 garlic cloves (1 large head)
2 apples, peeled, quartered, cored
2x 350ml bottles apple cider
1 x 350ml bottle strong ginger beer
3 sprigs rosemary
 
  • Let pork come to room temperature ±2 hours before cooking. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
  • Preheat oven to 150°C.
  • Arrange the onions, garlic, and apples on the base of a large heavy ovenproof pot with a tight-fitting lid, to form a bid for the pork. Place the pork top. Add the cider and ginger beer. On top of the stove, bring to a boil over high heat, cover, and transfer to oven.
  • Braise pork until a knife slides easily through meat, ±5 hours. Let meat cool in braising liquid, then refrigerate until cold (the meat will slice more easily when cold, the pork can be braised up to 3 days ahead). Cover and keep chilled.
To serve:
  • Preheat oven to 180°C.
  • Transfer pork to a cutting board. Slice/ tare apart into chunks and place in a large roasting pan.
  • Remove the apple slices, and strain braising liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, discard the remaining solids. Pour the braising liquid into the pan to cover the pork halfway and arrange rosemary over. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until pork is just heated through, ±20 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, pour remaining braising liquid from bowl into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil sauce until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Heat the apple and roughly mash.
  • Transfer sliced pork to a platter and drizzle some of sauce over. Serve remaining sauce alongside, together with the apple sauce.

Wickedfood Earth meat

All pork, lamb and beef, used in our recipes come from the Wickedfood Earth farm. Our  animals are all raised completely naturally, in a free-range environment, without the use of routine antibiotics and growth hormones or stimulants. Due to these natural farming practises, our animals take, on average, twice as long to reach maturity. This means that the muscles of the animals get to work, which ensures added flavour. It does also however mean that the meat quite often benefits from being cooked at lower temperatures for longer periods.

Wickedfood Earth encompasses:

  • A working farm  – our vegetable gardens are planted with a wide variety of naturally grown produce, we have an extensive fruit and berry orchard, and a wide variety of animals including pigs, indigenous sheep and cattle.
  • A Country Cooking School, – the commercial arm, offering cooking classes for both individuals and corporate groups, which ensures that the project is sustainable; and
  • A community upliftment training project, – where we are giving back to local communities in the form of skills training, from permaculture farming practises, through to cooking and processing. All products produced on the farm, and during training, are available for sale to clients at the Country Cooking School and Wickedfood Earth online market.

Should you wish to order pork, please contact Mike on 072 548-8814 or earth@wickedfood.co.za