Samuel Pepys' pork

I picked up a book called 'Pepys at Table' from a charity shop in Tunbridge Wells about a year ago.  It's all about dishes mentioned in his diaries coupled with a suitable recipe from the time.

On 4th September 1667 Pepys, his wife and some friends ate 'broyled' pork at Bartholomew Fayre; which was on the site of Smithfield Meat Market. A recipe by Hannah Wolley in a book published in 1675 is thought to be the sort of thing that would have been eaten at the fair.

'Cut your pork into slices very thin, having first taken off the skinny part of the Fillet, then hack it with the back of your knife, then mince some Thyme and Sage, exceeding small, and mingle it with pepper and salt, and therewith season your collops and then lay them on the Gridiron; when they are enough, make sauce for them with butter, vinegar, Mustard and Sugar and so serve them.'

I've done this recipe a few times now for family and friends.  It always seems to go down well.  I use lovely thick pork chops (courtesy yet again of Michelle at Hayward's) and have tinkered with the recipe a little.  The sauce might seem a little strange and when feeding someone who hasn't had it before I always serve it separately and get them to try just a little at first.  Now I tend to make twice as much as I think I'll need as it's exceptionally moreish.

We're having this for supper served on some braised red cabbage with chucks of apple in it and a pile of cheesy mash to soak up the sauce.

I started marinating the pork chops an hour before cooking in about four teaspoons each of chopped sage and thyme from the garden, a couple of good pinches of sea salt, about half as much ground black pepper and a healthy lug of olive oil.  All mixed round in a bowl until the chops were well coated.

These were browned in a really hot oven-proof pan and then bunged in a 180* oven to roast.  Top tip for a good cracklingy edge...cut through the rind with a sharp knife about an inch apart the length of the chop and when browning stand each chop on its side so that plenty of hot oil starts to work on the skin.  Slightly thicker chops take a bit longer to cook and gives the crackling a good chance to get nice and crisp.

These take around 30 - 40 minutes to cook depending on the thickness of your chops.

The sauce was made by melting 75g of unsalted butter and 35g of dark brown sugar in a pan.  When melted I added three tablespoons each of cider vinegar and wholegrain mustard and cooked together for a couple of minutes.  I always do mine while the pork is roasting and then warm it through if necessary just prior to serving.