Slow roasted pork belly

Suffice it to say, D is a fan of the pork, in all its various permutations. He has never, however, cooked pork belly, so when he saw some raw belly in store, he couldn't pass up the opportunity. I wasn't really sure what to make of it myself, as I gazed at the vast expanse of fat soaring upwards from this small sliver of meat. None of our cookbooks seemed to have any recipes for preparing it, so we turned to the interweb, and came across one from a Vancouver-based food blog (randomly). The recipe seemed fairly straightforward, despite the rather lengthy roasting time (at 3 hours).Preheated oven to 450 F. We didn't have carrots, which the recipe wants, but D chopped onion and garlic and threw them into the roasting pan. Combined chopped fresh thyme, chili flakes, salt and pepper in a bowl. About a lb of pork belly went on a cutting board, skin side up, and D made parallel lengthwise cuts about 1 cm away from each other through the skin and into the fat (but not penetrating the meat). The spice mixture was then rubbed into the meat, getting in the cuts. Placed the belly fat side-up in the roasting pan. Baked for 30 minutes, then turned down the temp to 325 F and cooked for another 30 minutes. Poured off excess fat, added a cup of white wine, and cooked for another hour. Basted with juices, removed the veggies and wine, and put pork back until crispy (about another 45 min or so). D simmered the veggie/wine mixture, strained out the veggies, and added a touch of flour to thicken it up.It's entertaining to describe the picture of D's reaction to slicing into the pork belly and eating it bite by bite. The throes of ecstasy that overtook him, pacing around the kitchen, pausing occasionally to lean against the fridge with his head in his hands, overcome by the sheer deliciousness of it all. Even my somewhat more reserved reaction will heartily admit that it was absolutely delicious. D declared that it was probably the best-tasting thing he's ever cooked. The sinful juxtaposition of crispy on the outside/creamy on the inside fat and tender pork meat made it divine. We did recognize that it was a luxury dish--not necessarily from price; just that I don't want to consider the sort of calories involved. But it was, certainly, a successful first attempt at pork belly roasting.Oh, on a random website note, I've added a "Globetrotting" section which chronicles some of our tastier food experiences from around the world (just London and France thus far, but I'll be adding to it).