This is sometimes cooked by my mum, with excellent pork from about a mile down the road from our house! The quality of pork really does make a difference so get the best you can. It often works better if you cut off the skin/fat for the crackling and roast that at a higher temperature so it is crispy
Ingredients:
Method
1. Toast the fennel seeds and peppercorns in a dry frying pan on a hot plate for a couple of minutes
2. Pound them with a pestle and mortar with some flaked sea salt, the thyme and garlic to make a paste. Mix with 2tbsp olive oil
3. Rub the mixture over the flesh of the pork.
4. Cover, chill and leave for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Remember to preheat the oven for later to 200 degrees celsius or 180 degrees for a fan oven
5. After that rub the skin of the joint with plenty more salt and the remaining 1tbsp of oil.
6. Sit the meat on a wire rack in a roasting tin and roast for 30 mins
7. After this time, squeeze the lemons over the skin and turn the heat down to 180 degrees celsius or 160 degrees for a fan oven. Roast for a further 2 hours
8. Finally, turn the oven back up to 220 degrees celsius or 200 degrees fan for a final blast, cook for 30 minutes to finish the crackling, if you have left it on.
9. Allow to rest somewhere warm for about 20 minutes.
10. Carve up into chunks or slices and serve - into not too large pieces as the fat can make it rather rich