Roasted Leg of Wild Boar

One 6-pound leg of wild boar*
1/4 cup coarse sea salt
1/4 cup coarsely ground black pepper

For the marinade:
4 cups hearty red wine
2 dried imported bay leaves
40 sprigs fresh thyme, rinsed
20 black peppercorns
6 cloves
1 carrot, trimmed, peeled, and cut in 1/4-inch chunks
1 medium onion, cut in eighths
1/4 cup best-quality red wine vinegar

To roast the wild boar:
20 whole cloves
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

For the sauce:
2 cups chicken or veal stock
3 tablespoons red current jelly

Rub the leg of wild boar all over with the salt and the pepper. Place it in a shallow dish, cover it loosely, and refrigerate it for 36 hours.

Bring the wine, the herbs and spices, and the vegetables to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium high heat and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Strain, reserving the bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns and cloves, and discarding the vegetables.

Whisk in the vinegar.

Quickly rinse the salt and pepper from the boar to remove most but not all of it. Pat meat dry and place it in a shallow dish. Pour the cooled marinade over it, return it to the refrigerator, loosely covered, and let it marinate for 36 hours, turning it at least four times.

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Remove the leg of wild boar from the marinade and pat it dry. Make 20 tiny slits in it all over, and insert a clove into each slit. Transfer the boar to a baking dish, and pour one-fourth of the marinade over it. Roast in the center of the oven until the boar is very golden on the outside, and when you cut into it it is a very faint pink, but not in the least red, which will take about 2 hours. Check it occasionally to be sure the marinade hasn't completely evaporated, and pour the additional marinade over the roast, one-fourth at a time.

When the boar is roasted remove it from the oven, and set it on a platter in warm spot, loosely covered, to sit for at least 20 minutes so the juices have a chance to retreat back into the meat. To prepare the sauce, transfer the cooking juice and any browned bits from the bottom of the baking dish to a medium sized saucepan. Whisk in the chicken or veal stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce by about one-fourth, then stir in the red current jelly. Continue cooking and whisking until the sauce is smooth and satiny, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Before slicing the boar remove as many of the cloves as possible. Thinly slice the wild boar and arrange it on a platter. Garnish with flat-leaf parsley leaves. Either pour the sauce over the meat, or serve it on the side.