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1
Heat the oven to 160–170 °C. Place the branch of herbs in the base of a large roasting vessel. Lay the dressed suckling pig on top, skin side down. Season lightly with coarse salt; rub lard over all exposed surfaces. Add water to the base of the vessel. The pig at this stage should smell of clean fat and raw milk-white meat.
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2
Roast at 160–170 °C for 2 hours. No basting is required: the pig cooks in its own rendered fat. After 2 hours the fat must have rendered completely — the flesh will have softened and begun to pull away at the joints, and the pan juices will run clear and golden. If the fat still appears white and opaque, continue at the same temperature until it is fully liquid. This rendering phase is where the dish lives or dies: rushing it and moving to high heat before the fat has fully yielded will prevent the skin from achieving the correct texture.
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3
Turn the pig skin side up. Raise the oven to 220 °C and roast for a further 20–30 minutes. The skin is ready when it has turned a deep, uniform amber and shatters audibly when pressed with a fingertip. If it bends rather than cracks, it is not ready — return it to the oven.
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4
Remove the pig from the oven and rest for 15 minutes before service. At table, divide into portions using the edge of a plate — the blade of a knife is not used in the Segovian mesón tradition. The meat should fall from the bone without resistance.