Let them eat....Alfredo Garcia

I always like to name my little porkers. Not the ones I'm rearing, I dont have the wherewithall, but the ones I'm eating. And I always call them Alfredo Garcia cos then I have film going through my head all day. I once met a guy called Alfredo Garcia. Imagine that. To be on a continual Peckinpah loop. All day. Every day. Anyway........

Bad day today. Kids not feeling good. Flat battery in the motor. Again. Got to the villa early so I could slow roast Alfredo and get some emailing done. Didnt get nothing done and Alfredo didnt have long enough in the oven. Nice but not fall of the bone. Had to pick kids up from school early and bring them to work cos they was ill, issit.

Suckling pig, roast potatoes, apple allioli and boiled cauliflower

Chocolate souffle

Take the suckling pig  and open up belly. Cut through spine with either a cleaver or a strong knife so you can flatten it out basically spatchcocking it. Rub ribcage with olive oil, salt and pepper and the fill with as many sage leaves you can get your hands on. Roast at 100ºc with fan for 4 - 6 hours  and turn up to 200 for last hour. When it is time to turn up for the last hour add peeled, sliced oiled and salted potatoes.

Whilst Alfredo is in the oven peel, core, slice and fry an apple in some butter and them put it in the oven to intensify. Peel and crush  2 -6 garlic cloves with a little salt and 2 yolks. Pound. Puree. In the mortar. Then add the cooked apple and puree as well. Then start adding up to half a pint of olive oil working as if it were a mayonnaise. You should end up with apple allioli. This is a very Catalan sauce. It can be done with pear or quince  and sometimes honey is added. It is a wierd sauce but an excellent one. Much of Catalan cuisine can be just that - wierd but excellent: Nut mixtures used to thicken sauces; salt cod with honey; black pastas (see Catalan Cuisine by Colman Andrews, an absolute gem.) This sauce is an excellent companion to pork particularly if it is slow cooked and is not a million miles away from English apple sauce. It is even better with membrillo (quince cheese as it is madly translated ) but I didn't have any, but I did have some apple so I used apple, alright? Jesus.

For the souffle. Melt 200g chocolate with 100g beurre. Whisk 5 eggs with a bit of sugar until it ribbons. Fold in the melted chocolate and pour into greased ramekins. Bake at 200ºc with fan for 10 mins.

A worrying thought: If you ignore the head and trotters suckling pigs bear an uncanny resemblance to children. Not a train of thought to get carried away with.