Crackling pork loin with cider gravy

I thought that I knew what pork tasted like, that was until I raised and killed my first pig on the farm. The difference in flavour was akin to the gulf between bitter and sweet, and once you have tried pork that has been bred for flavour and lived a life full of grass and sunshine, there is no going back to its grey, dry and factory-produced counterpart. My pig of choice for rearing and eating is the “Berkshire” (pronounced bark-shire); they have a richly coloured flesh and plenty of fat marbled throughout. I can’t stress enough the importance of finding a high-quality producer when it comes to pork. It’s undoubtedly more expensive, so is best treated as an occasional treat instead of a weekly treat.