Mrs Bailey’s Smoked Pork

with a chilli-paste coat to keep it warm…

Photo by Max Kukurudziak on Unsplash

Mrs B hangs pork shoulders on butcher’s hooks above a low slow fire when she wants to make this (except on Guy Fawkes Night, when the girls build a giant bonfire in the grounds and the meat is set up on the margins, on iron tripods, on the downwind side).

Personally, I use a temperature-controlled charcoal smoker these days, though I was previously a fan of the indirect-heat barbecue method.

Whatever your route, you’ll wind up in the same place, with a seriously delicious joint of smoky spicy pork to slice (or pull, if that’s your preference).

Begin with a bone-in pork shoulder, preferably with a thick fat cap. Rub it all over with a generous amount of coarse salt and coarsely-ground pepper, and let it sit uncovered for a couple of hours at room temperature.

Meanwhile, soak a couple of dozen stemmed dried chillies (pasilla, ancho, guajillo, chile de arbol, eg, in whatever mixture you prefer) in freshly-boiled water, until soft. Put those, with a little of the soaking-water, into a blender; add an onion, a lot of garlic and a generous splash of cider vinegar. Cilantro is also good, if you have any. Whizz into a smooth paste, and slather it all over the pork.