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.
Clay-baked roast (4 people)
1.5 kg pork neck fillet
About 10 cabbage leaves
3 cloves of garlic
5 sprigs of thyme
2 tsp dried marjoram
2 tsp salt
Clay and natural string
Video: How to make clay-baked roast
To begin with, make a large fire in order to create a bed of coals for the roast.
Score the roast and rub it with salt, chopped garlic and herbs. We use thyme and marjoram, but you can go for the herbs you like best.
Wrap cabbage leaves all the way around the meat before tying with string. Now cover the 'parcel' with clay. Make sure it is completely covered with a 2 cm thick layer at least.
Create a coal bed to suit the clay covered roast. Place the roast on the hot coals and move some of the coals on top of the roast. Now add kindling wood around and on top of the roast. The wood will catch fire and burn around the roast.
Cook the roast for a good hour. At the end, the clay will crack. Remove the clay, move the roast to a cutting board and remove the cabbage leaves. Leave the roast to rest for about 20 minutes before serving.
Serve the clay-baked roast with glazed roots and flatbread.
Enjoy!