Hermitage Spit-Roasted Pork
A pork shoulder slowly roasted over a wood fire, basted with a mixture of vinegar, pepper, and butter — the ancestor of Southern barbecue. The skin crackles, the meat melts. This is the dish for grand occasions, shared by the entire table.
A pork shoulder slowly roasted over a wood fire, basted with a mixture of vinegar, pepper, and butter — the ancestor of Southern barbecue. The skin crackles, the meat melts. This is the dish for grand occasions, shared by the entire table.
When I opened my house, sir, I did not stint on portions. A whole pig on the fire, from morning till night, basted with vinegar and pepper so the skin sang under the tooth — that's how you treat your guests in Tennessee. I knew hunger on the roads of Carolina, so at my table no one left with an empty belly. The commoner and the senator ate from the same pig: that is my democracy.
- •Pork shoulder or quarter — a fine piece (centerpiece)
- •Apple cider vinegar — a bowl (baste)
- •Coarsely ground black pepper — generously (spice)
- •Butter — a lump (baste)
- •Salt — by hand (seasoning)
Hermitage Spit-Roasted Pork
A pork shoulder slowly roasted over a wood fire, basted with a mixture of vinegar, pepper, and butter — the ancestor of Southern barbecue. The skin crackles, the meat melts. This is the dish for grand occasions, shared by the entire table.
Why this dish? Jackson entertained lavishly at The Hermitage and insisted on Tennessee hospitality: grand receptions revolved around a whole roasted pig, the planter's meat of choice. Pork and beef were the center of his table.
When I opened my house, sir, I did not stint on portions. A whole pig on the fire, from morning till night, basted with vinegar and pepper so the skin sang under the tooth — that's how you treat your guests in Tennessee. I knew hunger on the roads of Carolina, so at my table no one left with an empty belly. The commoner and the senator ate from the same pig: that is my democracy.
Ingredients (period version)
- Pork shoulder or quarter — a fine piece (centerpiece)
- Apple cider vinegar — a bowl (baste)
- Coarsely ground black pepper — generously (spice)
- Butter — a lump (baste)
- Salt — by hand (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Pork shoulder (with skin) — 1.5 kg (centerpiece)
- Apple cider vinegar — 200 ml (baste)
- Coarsely ground black pepper — 2 tbsp (spice)
- Melted butter — 60 g (baste)
- Salt — 2 tsp (seasoning)
Method
- Generously salt and pepper the pork shoulder, score the skin.
- Mix cider vinegar, melted butter, and coarsely ground pepper for the baste.
- Cook in the oven at 150 °C (or on a covered barbecue) for 4 to 5 hours, basting every 45 min.
- Increase heat to 220 °C for the last 20 minutes to crisp the skin.
- Let rest 15 min, then slice or shred.
- Serve with hoecakes and the vinegary cooking juices.
How it was made : Southern "barbecue," inherited from Native American and Caribbean techniques of slow pit-cooking, was done with a whole pig over hickory coals (the same wood as Old Hickory's cane). The sauce of the Eastern South was simple: vinegar and pepper, no tomato. The cooking was done by the plantation's slaves, whose expertise founded the South's culinary tradition.
The contemporary twist : Smoke the shoulder with hickory chips as a nod to the president's nickname, and serve it shredded inside a folded hoecake for an era-inspired street food.
Andrew Jackson · Charactorium
