Delicious Barbecued Pork

Another hot day, another chance to light the barbie - my oven's gone a bit luke-wam all of a sudden and the whoosh of the fan is a quiet whisper. I only discovered this when I was baking a Red Velvet birthday cake for Rob the other day so it ended up more of a fudge cake than light-as-air but he'd necked so much Prosecco by the time I wheeled it out, covered in sprinkles, no-one knew the difference. Anyway, for now, the barbecue's the only way I can cook a big chunk of meat till I get the man from Stoves round to check my thermostat. Choose a thick piece with ribs still attached (I'm talking about the pork now, not the man from Stoves) - I got mine from Moens in Clapham and it was a lovely piece but Christ it was pricy - slightly over twice as much as the same cut from William Rose.

Serves 4
1.5k thick belly pork
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 plump garlic cloves
leaves from 2 large rosemary sprigs
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sea salt
1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil

1 Steam the pork for 45 minutes - I've got a steam oven that I'm mad about (use it every day for Miss Baby's purees) but you can do it on a rack in a roasting tin of water covered in foil.

2 Place the fennel seeds, garlic, rosemary, oregano, salt and lemon rind in a mini food processor and whizz until finally chopped. Add enough oil to make a paste.

3 Dry the pork with kitchen paper, it should be completely cooked through. Rub it all over with the paste and leave for a couple of hours in a cool place. Barbecue for 40 minutes until it's warmed right through and has a good crackling. Leave to 5 minutes to rest before slicing and squeezing with a little lemon juice.