Civil War Roast Leg of Pork circa 1871

This recipe is one that was used by both Confederate and Union Soldiers during the Civil War. The recipe was first published in 1871 in "Common Sense in the Household", by Marion Harland. My copy of the recipe was handed down to me from my Aunt Anita King (Jacksonville, Florida) and is in the hand writing of one of my Great Uncles Sidney Lanier (Macon, Georgia - Lynn, North Carolina 1842-1881), who served in the Confederate Signal Corps during the Civil War and later became a well known poet,  muscian and scholar ending his career at Johns-Hopkins University. If you have ever been to Brunswick, Georgia you have traveled over the Sidney Lanier Bridge and Lake Lanier in Atlanta, Georgia is named after Uncle Sidney. Look for more on Sidney Lanier in future posts.

This recipe is best cooked in a large cast iron pot over an open flame/campfire and can be cooked in a modern oven or Bar B Q grill with the judicious employment of aluminum foil. Whole legs of pork can be difficult to find in todays supermarkets, however you should be able to get one at a local butcher shop. You can always hunt and butcher your own hog, if you do you only want to use this recipe on a young Hog or on a Sow as the Boar Hogs are extremely musky and require a different recipe to take the musky taste out of the meat.

Ingredients:
1 fresh leg of pork ( 3 to 5 lbs)
1/2 cup boiling water
Browned flour (rue made with butter, milk, and flour and cooked down till it is thick and brown)
Pepper & Salt
Juice of 1 lemon

Score the skin of the leg of pork with a knife in parallel lines running from side to side. Place the pork in the pot with the boiling water, heat gradually until the fat begins to ooze from the meat, place a cover over the pot. Quicken the fire to a red steady glow, coals should be white. Cook over the open fire for approximately 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours depending on the size of the leg of pork, baste the meat often with its own gravy, this keeps the skin from turning hard while cooking. When the roasted leg of pork is done remove it from the pot, skim the fat off the top of the gravy in the pot, add 1/2 cup of boiling water to the gravy and slowly add the browned flour, add salt and pepper to taste and the juice of 1 lemon. Slice the roast leg of pork and place on a platter, laddle gravy over the roast and enjoy.

I would suggest a side dish of white rice and perhaps some collard greens and fresh sliced tomatoes.