This is our traditional meal to serve at the pre-Christmas get-together with my four stepsons and their families. It takes a long time to cook and could be started overnight. It has all the advantages of not needing much attention, being easy to serve and pleasing everyone. There should be enough for 8-10 servings.

Oven at 220°C

About 3-3.5kg leg or shoulder of pork.
250ml dry cider or apple juice
Olive oil
Sea salt
2 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
2 tsp chilli flakes
2 chipotle or ancho chillies chopped (or an extra tablespoon of smoked paprika)
2 garlic cloves
½ tbsp coriander seeds
½tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp brown sugar (optional)
400ml passata
1tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp sugar
60ml cider vinegar

Roughly grind all the spices. Remove the skin, fat and bone from the pork.

Rub the pork all over generously with salt.

Pour about three tablespoons of olive oil into a large casserole dish and, when hot, add the pork and brown on both sides.

When cool enough to handle, rub the pork all over with the spices and sugar (if using), working it into all the crevasses. Chop the garlic and rub this into the meat too.

Return the pork to the casserole. Pour the cider or apple juice over the pork. Bake, uncovered, in the oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 140°C, cover the pork and continue cooking, turning the meat occasionally, for 4-5 hours or until the pork is soft and pulls apart easily.

Remove the pork from the oven and keep it warm by covering it in foil while making the sauce.

Add the passata, mustard, sugar and vinegar to the liquid in the casserole (adding more cider or apple juice if necessary) and let it simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened and reduced a little.

Pull the pork apart with two forks and serve with a generous serving of the sauce.