This roast reigns on New Year's

A marvel is what it is. Crown roast of pork looks like a culinary UFO that has somehow landed at your New Year's Eve table.

This stunning presentation begins with two racks of pork tied together -- so the chops face out in a circle (hence the word crown) and the bones point up. It's one of the most elegant dishes a home cook can prepare. Fuss with it or leave it alone, it's graceful either way.

When the two racks are tied together -- the butcher does this with kitchen twine -- the 16-point pork crown emerges from the oven with lightly charred rib bones proudly protruding. Meanwhile, cylinders of meat cuddle a sumptuous stuffing. As Hamersley's Bistro owner and chef Gordon Hamersley says, "The pork crown roast is the quintessential centerpiece for holiday dining."

Pork, of course, tastes different now then it did some years ago. "Back in the '70s when pork was pork," explains John Dewar of John Dewar & Co. in Newton and Wellesley, "supermarkets were beginning to be pushed in a new direction. There was too much fat in the pork back then." A movement took hold across the country to produce leaner pork. But breeding a leaner pig had the unintended result of tougher and less flavorful meat. As a countermeasure, producers injected a saline solution (essentially salt and water) to moisten the meat, but had little luck tenderizing it.

In the late '90s, small farmers focused on an approach that Dewar describes as "breeding within the breed, in smaller amounts." The best of the new breeds is Kurobuta -- the name is Japanese for "black pig" -- which one butcher calls "the Jaguar of pork." It is all-natural Berkshire pork, richer and darker and more marbled than commercial or "white" pork. It does cost less than a Jaguar and you don't have to travel to Japan.

Ask the butcher to do all the heavy lifting on a crown roast: removing the backbone and featherbone, and "frenching" the bones to expose them. Brining overnight in water, salt, and sugar will make the meat even more moist. You can also use apple cider, Riesling, sea salt, and maple syrup.

There are many options for the stuffing (you'll have a sizable space to fill). White and wild rice pilaf with dried cherries or cranberries works well. When the crown is near its finished temperature, fill the cavity to the point of overflowing with the rice mixture, then heat any surplus in a baking dish alongside the roast.

By midnight, your grand centerpiece may be long gone. But your guests will greet the new year satisfied and you'll be smiling at the accomplishment.