Lion of Pork in Boar's Tail Sauce

This is a very tasty recipe, and below is mention some of the spices that can be left out to improve the taste. The original recipe from MP 146 calls for wild boar, but since wild boar can be hard to obtained, domestic pork can be substituted from local supermarkets. For those that wish to have a close approximating flavor of wild boar you can try marinating the port for a few days in a marinade of white wine, vinegar and oil, and herbs

Ingredients

Begin with a 4 - 6 pound pork roast. Note in my experience, by cutting the amount of the remaining ingredients one can do this on smaller roast, of which I have done roast down to 1 1/2 lbs

whole cloves - This will spice up the meat, and was used in the 1400s to hide the flavor of game meat, and in some cases it might have been used to hide the taste of meat when is begun to age and give off a poor taste. In my experience I have left out the cloves and this has greatly improve the flavor of the meat. You do not want to mask the flavor of the domestic pork.

1/2 tsp each ground ginger, cardamom, pepper and salt

1/4 tsp each cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg

1/4 cup wine - In Medieval times it would most likely be clarity wine. A close substitute is Italian Merlot Wine.

1 cup of vinegar

Optional 2 Tbsp of breadcrumbs - this is used as a thickener for the juices -  I substituted corn starch as a thicker thus giving a smoother texture.

If you decide to use whole cloves, push cloves into the loin at 1 - 2 inch intervals. Mix together all ingredients less thicken agents and pour over pork roast. Roast at 365 F and bast from time to time with juices of roast. When the roast is done pour off pan juices, degrease and boil using thicken agents to make sauce.

A note from the cook - I have used this dish many times as a pot luck entry for feast in Medieval anachronism groups. For those that would like to add a bit more flavor to the sauce I have used sliced mushrooms and added these to the sauce.

To serve for artist look. Let roast cool and slice, lay slices in plate. With the sauces pour a thin layer over meat and serve hot.

Comments from cook - You do not need to use pork lion and I Christiana have tried this recipe on lesser cuts of pork meat, like the front shoulder. This is a very tasty dish and was well received both in my family and at pot luck feast events. Enjoy! If you wish to improve on the sauce even more use a few slices of green peppers and cook with the mushrooms in the sauce at the same time. You will need 1/4 cup slice mushrooms and if you wish to use green peppers use 1/8 cup.

Source:
Pleyn Delit - Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks - second edition (101)