Nigella

Norwegian Pork Ribs

A vital part of the Christmas Eve dinner in Norway, these pork ribs have the tenderest meat and the crunchiest crackling imaginable. You have to take a leap of faith when making them, as the idea of letting the rind get so wet in the course of cooking goes against every bit of advice you may have heard thus far about the importance of keeping it dry. This method is an absolute revelation. You need a big old slab of pork belly on the bone for this, which requires a visit to the butcher. And — this is essential — you will need to ask them to saw through the bones for you, as if about to divide the pork into three equal long strips, cutting through the bones and only a little way into the meat. What this gives you are a couple of narrow troughs, into which you press a paste of dill, garlic and juniper, which flavours the meat as it cooks, and which enable you, on serving, to cut the pork easily into chunky, crisp-topped, succulent slabs. Peeking out between the ribs in this photograph are roast quinces. And to make these — should you be able to lay hands on quince in the first place — you simply cut the quinces into quarters (or eighths if they’re big) and roast these in olive oil (or, indeed, any fat you like) for about 30 minutes a side in a 200°C/180°C Fan/400°F oven. To make my cooking life easier, I like to roast these a day or so ahead of time, and then I just reheat them by popping them (on a baking sheet) on a shelf below the pork for the last 15 minutes of its final blast in the oven, leaving them in there, too, with the oven turned off, while I cut up the ribs. For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.