Wild pig in wine sauce with honey and orange

A classic Winter-time dish, delicious and very hearty! The marinade is necessary because the meat will remain moist and tender with an exceptional flavour. Slowly cooked for plenty of time it will reward your patience with a great result. Don't forget to keep an eye on it so there is enough liquid all the way through

Recipe of Argyro Barbarigou,
a prominent Head Cook in Greece

Check out her site Argiro for more delicious recipes

Ingredients (for 6 people)

For the meat and the marinade:
2Kg of wild pig, cut in portions
2 tbsp of coarse salt
1/3 tea-cup of plain vinegar

For the main cooking:
2 tbsp of all-purpose flour
5 yellow onions, cut in quarters
1 clove of garlic, cut in half
1/2 tea-cup of olive oil
1 tbsp of granulated sugar
2 ripe but firm tomatoes, peeled and cut in quarters
1½ tea-cup of dry red wine
1/2 tea-cup of cognac
1/4 tea-cup of balsamic vinegar
1 large orange, only the peel
2 tbsp of honey
2 bay leaves
5 whole allspice berries
salt
black pepper

Method:
Put the meat in a large plastic or glass bowl. Sprinkle with the coarse salt, pour over with the plain vinegar and add enough cold water to cover the meat. Put in the fridge and leave to marinate for at least 5 hours or, preferably, all night. In this way most of the blood and the meat's heavy smell will be gone.

Next day, take the meat out of the marinade and dry well with kitchen paper.

In a spacious and wide pot warm half of the oil on medium heat and sauté the onions for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until soft. Then sprinkle with the sugar, add the garlic in the pot and continue cooking stirring frequently for a couple of minutes. Then take off the heat and leave aside.

Put the meat in a bowl and sprinkle with the flour. Stir well so the meat absorbs the flour.

In a spacious frying pan warm the rest of the oil in high heat and sauté the meat in batches until it is well coloured on all sides. When the first batch is ready, transfer the meat into the pot with the onions. When doing the last batch, add the cognac, the wine and the balsamic vinegar and stir. Leave the meat to boil for 4-5 minutes. Transfer the meat with the liquids into the pot with the onions.

Add in the pot the tomatoes, the bay leaves, the allspice and the orange peel. Cover the pot with the lid and cook in medium-low heat for about 2 1/2-3 hours or until the meat is very tender and the sauce is thick and caramelized. Towards the end of cooking season with salt and pepper, add the honey and stir.

During cooking make sure there is enough liquid in the pot and if necessary add some hot water. In the end though the food must be left only with its sauce.

Serve with mashed or steamed potatoes or rice pilaf.