Pork and Apple Hock

In the old days, on farms across the West Country and Herefordshire, pigs and apple trees shared the same ground. Not by accident, but by design.

The pigs would be let loose in the orchards in autumn, after harvest, to clean up the windfall apples. It was practical, seasonal, and surprisingly elegant. The pigs feasted. The orchard was cleared. And the pork — well, the pork tasted better.

There’s a kind of logic in these old ways that we’ve mostly forgotten. The kind that didn’t separate farming from flavour. Where the seasons told you what to cook, and what to cook with. Where a pig fattened on apples made perfect sense with a sauce of the same. That’s exactly the spirit behind this recipe.

Pork and Apple Hock is one of those deeply satisfying dishes that feels like it came from someone’s grandmother’s kitchen, where nothing was wasted and everything was cooked slow. The hock — often overlooked in modern cooking — is rich with flavour, threaded with just the right amount of fat, and perfect for braising. Paired with apples, it transforms into something truly comforting: tender, fall-apart pork wrapped in the natural sweetness of fruit, mellowed with onions, cider, and herbs. It’s the sort of meal that smells like Sunday. The kind you eat slowly, preferably by a window, with the trees just starting to turn.

When I made it last, I used a mix of tart and sweet apples, just like the ones that would’ve fallen from the trees generations ago. And I couldn’t help but think of those pigs in the orchard — content, purposeful, and unknowingly flavouring their own legacy.

Ingredients

1 Pork Hock (c. 3lb)
1 Bramley Apple
2 Onions
600ml Good Chicken Stock
2tsp Sweet Paprika
1tsp English Mustard Powder
2tbsp Wholemeal Flour
1oz Butter for the Velouté Sauce
Knob of Butter for the Onions
Freshly Ground Pepper (to taste)
Bay Leaf or two

Method

1. Put the pork hock on to boil for a couple of hours – the exact time isn’t hugely important, but the pork should be fully cooked!

2. Meanwhile, create a chicken velouté with the butter, flour and chicken stock.   Reduce into medium thick / creamy sauce.

3. Peel and slice the onions and lightly brown in butter,

4. Once cooked, remove the pork from the boiling pot and let cool slightly. Remove the skin from the hock and the meat from the bone. Chop the meat into chunks and place in a roasting dish.

5. Put the sliced onions on top of the pork and sprinkle with the paprika, mustard powder and freshly ground pepper. Mix together and then add the chicken velouté.

6. Put into a hot oven and cook for 1hr.

7. Peal and chop the Bramley apple and mix into the pork mixture. Return to the oven for a further 15 mins.