The Art of the Hog/Pig Roast.

There is a rich tradition of hog roasts not only in the UK, but wherever pigs are to be found. It is a celebratory act that has followed birthdays, baptisms, Christmases, the end of a year and so on. However, roasting a hog can be a tricky business - you need an experienced hand to guide the beast from pasture to your appetite's rapture (for a recommendation as to who you should trust with your hog roast, please follow the link provided at the end of this article).

Modern cooking technology allows anyone to enjoy the benefits of a roast, whereas it was once only the preserve of the privileged. Things have evolved to such an extent that a whole hog can easily be roasted indoors, in wet weather and the like.

Sourcing and preparing a hog is best left to experts who specialise in hog roasts for a living. To put this into perspective, a hog that weighs approximately 70 kilograms needs to be fastened to a stainless steel spit. The whole of the animal is then scored with a very sharp knife to ensure that long, skinny strips of crackling can be savoured with the roast. Anyone who doesn't serve crackling with a hog roast is a philistine and an imposter.