Clay-baked roast

Pork, beef, lamb, poultry or fish. You can clay bake all types of meat. Cooking a roast this way doesn't really take much effort. You just need to tend the coals and watch the cooking time. The result will be a juicy roast packed full of flavour.

If you cannot get hold of clay, you can choose to salt-bake your meat. Salt was a very expensive commodity during the Viking Age, so cooking meat in a salt crust would not have been an option back then.

The first time you make this dish, choose a piece of meat with some fat as it will give you a juicy and tender roast even if you leave it to cook a little longer than necessary. When cooking a whole chicken this way, we recommend you place a very hot stone inside the carcass to make sure it will be completely done.

Procedure

Start by making a fire to create a bed of embers.

Score the meat and rub it with salt, garlic and herbs. Carefully wrap it in cabbage leaves and tie with string. With the meat completely covered, cover the cabbage leaves with a min. 2 cm thick layer of clay.

Place the roast onto the embers. Pack the embers around and on top of the roast. Next, place kindling wood around and on top, too. The wood will soon catch fire and burn around the roast.

Cook the roast for a good hour. At the end, the clay will have cracked. Remove the clay, transfer the roast to a board and remove the cabbage leaves. Leave the roast to rest for 20 min. before serving

Ingredients

4 persons
  • 1,5 kg pork neck fillet
  • About 10 cabbage leaves
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 5 sprigs thyme, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp dried marjoram
  • 2 tsp salt
  • Clay
  • Natural string