This is an elegant dish that will work nicely on an important occasion, when you want to serve something tasty but rather unusual. It's drawn from Il Manuale delle Carni, a compendium published by the editors of La Cucina Italiana. The preparation time is about 2 hours; to serve 6 you'll need:

• A leg of a piglet, weighing about 4 pounds (1.8 k)
• 4 ounces (100 g) lard
• 2 cups dry white wine
• Oranges
• White wine vinegar
• 6 juniper berries, ground
• 2 bay leaves, shredded
• Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Using a fine bladed knife trip the skin from the meat. Then tie it loosely with string so it will keep its shape, and rub it with salt and pepper. Preheat your oven to 440 F (220 C). While it's heating, melt the lard in an oven-proof pan, and put the meat in the pan. Put the meat in the oven and roast it, turning it several times as it browns. Once it has browned completely, pour the wine into the pan and continue roasting until it has evaporated.

While the meat is cooking squeeze several oranges, strain the juice, and mix it with 3 tablespoons of vinegar. Brush this mixture over the meat once the wine has almost completely evaporated. Dust the meat with the ground juniper berries and shredded bay leaves and continue roasting it for another hour and a half, basting it often with the pan drippings.

When it is done remove it from the pan, untie it, set it on a heated platter, and set the platter in the mouth of the oven. Strain and degrease the pan drippings, stir a few drops of Worcestershire sauce into them, and heat them gently over the stove to thicken it slightly. Pour the sauce into a gravy boat and serve it with the meat, which you will want to carve at the table, cutting the slices on a slant to avoid the bone.

The wine? I'd go with a robust white, for example a Vernaccia di San Gimignano.

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