Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Carl's Pork shoulder

1 Suckling Pig Shoulder

Glazed Vegetables

250 ml (1 cup) Carl’s Sauce

Freshly ground pepper

Maple brine

80 g (¼ cup) fine salt (dissolves quickly)

1 L (4 cups) water

60 ml (¼ cup) maple syrup

Suckling pig shoulder

1 suckling pig shoulder, about 4.5 kg (10 lb)

Maple brine

Glazed vegetables

2 medium carrots, cut into 0.5 x 7 cm sticks

Salted water

200 ml (¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon) maple syrup

15 g (1 tablespoon) unsalted butter

Salt and pepper

Carl's sauce

½ onion, chopped

15 g (1 tablespoon) unsalted butter

15 ml (1 tablespoon) red wine vinegar

125 ml (½ cup) maple syrup

250 ml (1 cup) PDC veal stock

Cooking juices from the shoulder

18 g (1 tablespoon) Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper

Brine

Mix the salt, water and maple syrup in a bowl until the salt has completely dissolved. Set aside.

Suckling Pig Shoulder

Using a brining pump or large syringe, inject all of the brine into different parts of the shoulder. Set aside.

Injecting the brine perfumes and seasons the meat, making it even juicier. Technically speaking, you can think of this as a kind of internal braising.

Preheat a smoker burning maple wood to 107°C (225°F). Place the shoulder in the smoker skin side up. Smoke for 8 hours, maintaining as constant a temperature as possible. The shoulder is ready when the meat falls easily from the bone.

Ensure the fire is smoking throughout the cooking process, adding wood chips if necessary. The maple wood will lightly smoke the shoulder. If you don’t have a smoker, you can place wood chips in a cast-iron skillet and set it directly on the coals in a regular charcoal grill. Then put the grill grate back on and cook the shoulder as described above.

When finished cooking, transfer the shoulder to a bowl and let rest for 30 minutes. Save the juices that accumulate in the bowl for use in making the sauce.

Carl’s Sauce

In a saucepan, sweat the chopped onion in the butter. Add the wine vinegar and reduce by half. Add the maple syrup and reduce again by half. Add the veal stock and reduce by a third. Add the saved pork juices and cook for two minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the mustard to bind the sauce. Adjust the seasoning and set aside.