Roast Pork with Oranges & Onions
Pork roasted in oranges, lemons, & wine - contributed by by Judith Carr

"Of sauces, and first for a roast capon or turkey."

Original recipe from Gervase Markham, The English Huswife:

To make an excellent sauce for a roast capon, you shall take onions, and having sliced and peeled them, boile them in faire water with pepper, salt and a few bread crumbs; then pour unto it a spoonful of claret wine, the juice of an orange and three or four slices of a lemon peel; all these shred together and so pour it on the capon being broke up.


Modern recipe:

  • 10 6 lb. center cut pork loins
  • 1 lb. cooking onion, minced
  • 1 lb. butter
  • 2 tbs. each pepper & salt
  • 1 liter bottle of claret wine
  • juice of a dozen oranges
  • 4 lemons sliced
  • 1 cup very fine brown bread crumbs
Saute onions in butter with salt & pepper. Add orange juice and wine. Let stand. Roast pork at 350º F for 1 1/2 hours in a dutch oven or other covered containers. Remove from racks and degrease. Add liquid mixture to pork; put back in oven and roast for three hours, or until a meat thermometer shows 170º F when inserted. Degrease liquid again; add bread crumbs until mixture thickens. Slice pork and serve with sliced lemons, with the sauce on the side or served in sippits.

I made the sauce originally for roasted chicken and had some left. So when we had a rather dry pork roast the next day, I added the sauce as a marinade. As the pork was a firm white meat similar to a capon, it went well with the roast; the orangey, wine flavor was a good counterpoint to the bland pork.

Roast Pork with Oranges & Onions is featured in Auld Alliance Royal Feast

Metric, Celsius, & Gas Mark Equivalencies

Judith Carr is an expert in Medieval baking and antique furniture restoration. An active member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, she is known for her love of animals, especially cats.

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Roast Pork with Oranges & Onions © 1995 Judith Carr | This page © 2000 James L. Matterer

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