Scrumpy Cider Pork Gravy

Scrumpy is not the same animal as a clean supermarket cider. It is cloudy, high in tannin and often faintly barnyard, which sounds like a fault and is actually why it makes a better gravy. It needs more reduction and a touch of sweetness, but the result has a depth that commercial cider cannot get near.

Ingredients

Makes about 550ml, enough for six plates

• 3 tbsp pork fat from the roasting tin
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp (30g) plain flour
• 450ml (16fl oz) dry farmhouse scrumpy cloudy, still, unfiltered if you can get it
• 450ml (16fl oz) hot pork or chicken stock
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 3 sprigs thyme
• salt and black pepper

Kit

• Roasting tin or heavy pan
• Whisk
• Fine sieve

Method

1. Set the roasting tin over a medium heat with three tablespoons of pork fat and all the caramelised juices. Cook the onion and celery for ten minutes until soft and lightly coloured.

2. Stir in the flour and cook for two minutes, working the sticky brown residue off the bottom of the tin.

3. Pour in the scrumpy gradually, whisking. It will look cloudy and unappealing at this stage, which is exactly how it should look.

4. Add the thyme and boil hard for twelve minutes until reduced by half. Scrumpy carries far more tannin and acid than a filtered supermarket cider, so it needs a good few minutes longer to come round. Taste it. Sharp and drying means keep going.

5. Whisk in the hot stock and simmer for twelve minutes until the gravy thickens and the colour deepens to a proper amber brown.

6. Stir in the honey and mustard. The honey is there to answer the tannin, not to sweeten the gravy, so two teaspoons is usually right and it should not taste sweet at the end.

7. Strain through a fine sieve, since farmhouse cider throws sediment and you want the gravy clean. Season and serve with roast pork or sausages.

Tips worth knowing

• Celery seems out of place in a cider gravy but it adds a savoury backbone that stops the whole thing tasting like fruit.
• If your scrumpy is very sharp, add half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda at the reduction stage. It will foam up hard, then settle, and the acidity drops noticeably. Use no more than that or it turns soapy.
• For a non-alcoholic version, use 450ml of cloudy unfiltered apple juice with 1 tbsp of cider vinegar and half a strong black teabag steeped in it for five minutes. The tea gives you the tannin that makes scrumpy scrumpy.
• Celery is a regulated allergen, so declare it if you are cooking for others.

Keeping and reheating

Four days in the fridge and three months frozen. It thickens as it stands. Reheat with a splash of stock and taste for sweetness again, since the tannin can come forward as it cools.

Questions people ask