Roast rack of lamb is wonderful and a standing rib of roast beef is close to heaven, but a beautifully roasted rack of pork is alarmingly good. It has crisp, golden crackling and tender, juicy meat, is easy to cook and easy to serve, and is neither intimidatingly large nor inaccessibly expensive.

So why isn’t rack of pork more popular, up there with goose and turkey as the third option for Christmas dinner? I suspect that the fault lies at the door of the unimaginative butcher. One butcher I spoke to said that you simply could not trim a loin of pork like a rack of lamb. I said you could. Luckily, I found another (Kingsland Master Butchers, 140 Portobello Road W11, 020-7727 6067) who knew exactly what I was talking about.

It was magnificent — the Gloucester Old Spot pork sweet and tender, the crackling crunchy and the roasted apples, pears and red onions suitably festive.

So you will need a good butcher, one who cares enough to buy decently bred, slow-growing pigs aged four or five months (preferably female, because male pigs can have an unpleasantly hormonal smell and aftertaste). Order a day or two ahead, and ask specifically for a six to eight-chop pork loin from the best end, chined, with the rib bones trimmed as for rack of lamb, and the rind vertically scored. It should weigh between 1.5 kg and 2kg, trimmed, which will mean there is plenty of cooking time for the crackling to crisp while the pork cooks.

Ingredients
Serves 4 to 6

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 1 hr 30 min

Present with winter greens and a light gravy or Dijon mustard.

6 to 8-rib rack of pork with rind
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp thyme leaves
1 tsp sea salt
2 red onions
4 sprigs rosemary
2 cooking apples
2 pears
2 tbsp lemon juice

METHOD

Heat the oven to 220C/Gas 7. Rub the pork rind with olive oil, thyme and sea salt, smearing it into the scored cuts, and place the pork on a rack in the roasting tray. Roast for 30 minutes. Peel the onions and cut into quarters, and arrange in the roasting tray with the rosemary. Cut the apples and pears into quarters, unpeeled, and core. Toss them in lemon juice and place them with the onions. Reduce the heat to 180C/Gas 4 and roast for 1 hour.

Test by inserting a skewer. If the juices run clear, the pork is cooked. If the crackling is not crisp enough, give it another ten minutes on a higher heat. Rest the pork for ten minutes before serving. Serve one or two chops per person, with the roasted apples, pears and onions.

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