Rullepolsemad

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sharp boning knife
• •Kitchen twine or muslin for tying
• •Heavy pot large enough to hold the roll submerged
• •Fine muslin or cheesecloth for straining the stock
• •Shallow dish for setting the aspic
• •Very sharp slicing knife or electric slicer

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the belly

   Lay the pork belly flat on the counter, fat side down. If it is thicker on one side than the other, butterfly the thick side open with a sharp knife so the whole piece is roughly even, about 2cm thick throughout. Even thickness matters. A lopsided belly rolls into an oval that slices unevenly, and half your slices will fall apart at the edges. Trim any loose flaps and pat the meat very dry with kitchen paper.

   Ask your butcher for a rectangular piece from the thinner end of the belly, skin off. Tell them it is for rullepolse. In Denmark they will know exactly what you mean.
2. 2

   Mix the cure

   Combine the coarse salt, allspice, and white pepper in a small bowl. Allspice is the soul of rullepolse. It gives the meat its warm, slightly sweet backbone and distinguishes Danish rullepolse from the smoked and cured meats of the German tradition. Do not substitute. Freshly ground is better than pre-ground, and a microplane over whole allspice berries takes no time at all.

3. 3

   Season and fill

   Scatter the cure evenly across the inside face of the belly, rubbing it gently into the meat. Sprinkle the finely chopped onion and thyme leaves across the surface in a thin, even layer, leaving a 2cm border along the far edge. The border matters. If you pack filling all the way to the edge, it squeezes out when you roll.

4. 4

   Roll and tie

   Starting from the long edge nearest you, roll the belly up tightly into a firm cylinder. Keep steady tension as you go. A loose roll will have air pockets that turn grey and watery in the cooking liquid, and the slices will fall apart. Tie the roll with kitchen twine at 2cm intervals, working from the middle outwards, then add two longer loops lengthwise to hold the ends. You want it tight enough that the meat holds its shape when you pick it up by one end.

   If tying with twine feels fiddly, you can use a large piece of muslin wrapped tight around the roll and tied at both ends like a sweet wrapper. This is the old farmhouse method and it works beautifully.
5. 5

   Cure in the fridge

   Place the tied roll on a plate, cover loosely, and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours. This is the joy of waiting. The salt works its way into the meat, the spices bloom, and the texture firms up. Twenty-four hours gives you a gently seasoned rullepolse. Forty-eight hours gives you a deeper, more traditional flavor. The season decides nothing here, but patience does.

6. 6

   Simmer gently

   Place the cured roll in a heavy pot just large enough to hold it. Add the halved cooking onion, the carrot, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Cover with cold water by about 3cm. Bring slowly to a bare simmer over medium heat. Never a boil. Boiling tears the meat apart and turns the rullepolse tough and stringy. You want the surface of the water to barely tremble, with one lazy bubble rising every few seconds. Simmer like this for 90 minutes to 2 hours, until a skewer slides in with almost no resistance.

   If your stove runs hot, slide the pot half off the burner. The side nearest the heat will keep the liquid moving while the rest stays calm.
7. 7

   Press overnight

   Lift the roll carefully from the cooking liquid and place it on a deep plate or shallow dish. Strain the cooking liquid through fine muslin and keep it for the aspic. Do not discard it. Set a second plate on top of the rullepolse and weight it with something heavy, about 2kg. A few tins from the cupboard work perfectly. Refrigerate overnight, still tied. Pressing firms the meat, forces out excess moisture, and gives you the clean, tight slice that defines proper rullepolse. Without pressing, the roll is loose and falls open when you cut it.

8. 8

   Make the aspic

   The next day, skim any fat from the reserved cooking liquid and measure out 400ml into a small saucepan. Taste it. It should be savory and gently seasoned. If it is thin, reduce it by a third to concentrate the flavor. Soften the gelatine sheets in a bowl of cold water for five minutes until they go floppy. Warm the stock until steaming but not boiling, lift the softened gelatine from its soak, squeeze out the water, and stir it into the warm stock until dissolved. Pour into a shallow dish to a depth of about 1cm and refrigerate until firmly set, about 2 hours. This is the sky, the trembling jelly that crowns the mad.

   A well-made pork stock often sets on its own from natural gelatine. If yours does, skip the sheets entirely. Test by chilling a spoonful on a plate for ten minutes. If it wobbles and holds a mark, you don't need more.
9. 9

   Slice thin

   Unwrap the pressed rullepolse and cut away the twine. Using your sharpest knife, slice the roll as thinly as you possibly can, across the grain. Paper-thin is the goal. Thick slices are tough and chewy and miss the point entirely. If your knife struggles, the roll is not cold enough. Return it to the fridge for an hour and try again. When it is right, each slice shows a clean spiral of pale pink meat flecked with dark allspice and onion.

10. 10

    Butter the rye

    Take the butter out of the fridge about fifteen minutes before you assemble. You want it cold enough to hold its shape on the knife but soft enough to spread without tearing the rugbrod. Spread a generous layer of butter across each slice of rye, going right to the edges. The butter is not optional and it is not thin. It is the barrier that keeps the bread from going soggy, and it is also half the flavor.

11. 11

    Assemble the mad

    Lay three or four slices of rullepolse across each buttered rye, letting them overlap slightly and drape over the edge of the bread. Cut the set aspic into small cubes, about 1cm, and scatter four or five cubes across the meat. The aspic should wobble when you place it. That trembling is the whole point. Top with a few paper-thin rings of raw white onion and a generous pinch of fresh cress. Finish with a small scatter of flaky salt. Serve immediately with the first piece going to whoever has been most patient, because this dish has been three days in the making. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •The quality of the pork belly is the whole dish. Find a butcher you trust and ask for a thin, rectangular cut from the leaner end of the belly. A good butcher will scale it, remove the skin, and butterfly it for you if you explain what you are making.
• •Don't skip the pressing. Overnight under weight is the difference between proper rullepolse that holds together on the knife and a sad, loose spiral that falls apart when you try to slice it. The weight is doing the work.
• •A schnapps or an aquavit is the classic drink alongside rullepolsemad. A cold dark Danish pilsner works equally well. Neither is optional if the mood is right.

Advance Preparation

• •Rullepolsemad is a three-day project. Day one: cure the rolled belly in the fridge. Day two: simmer, press overnight, and make the aspic. Day three: slice and assemble. Start on a Thursday for a Saturday lunch.
• •The finished rullepolse keeps wrapped in the fridge for up to a week and actually improves for the first two or three days as the flavors settle. Slice as you need it, not all at once.
• •The aspic can be made a day ahead and kept covered in the fridge. Cut into cubes just before serving so the edges stay bright and clean.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 120g)