Instructions: Wipe the loin with a damp cloth. Split the back and scrape or feather the bones for easy carving. Set aside.

In a mortar with a pestle, pound the garlic, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and cayenne to a smooth paste. Blend in the sugar, vinegar, and sage and mix well. Rub this mixture over the entire surface of the pork loin.

Place the loin on a rack in a roasting pan large enough to hold the meat, sweet potatoes, and onions and let sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Rub the meat with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Rub the sweet potatoes with another tablespoon of the oil and arrange them around the loin. Cut a cross on top of each onion, going halfway through. Rub the onions with the remaining oil and arrange them on the roasting rack around the loin and the sweet potatoes. Roast in the middle level of the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let sit in a warm spot for about 10 minutes.

Transfer the loin to a serving platter, sprinkle salt and freshly ground pepper to taste in the middle of the opened onions, arrange them and the sweet potatoes around the roast, and serve.

Comments: What is best about this dish is the crust on the meat that is formed by the spices and sugar in the marinade. It gives the roast an appetizing color and unusual flavor and seals in all the wonderful juices.

When roasting a loin of pork with the bone, ask your butcher to free it from the meat for easy carving.

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