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belly skin-side down first, then skin-side up; knife tip only

pork belly, laid flat and crosshatched on the meat side about a quarter inch deep so the paste has somewhere to go — an unscored belly takes seasoning only on its surface, and once rolled that surface is a single seam in the middle of an otherwise bland roast. Then turn it and score the skin in a diamond pattern with strokes about an inch apart, cutting through the skin and into the fat but stopping short of the meat. Cut into the meat and the roast leaks: rendered fat and juice escape through the breach onto the skin, and wet skin does not crackle. Trim the loin to the belly's length so the roll ends up an even cylinder rather than a cone