We are having a little piggy-roast next weekend in honor of Matt…getting older, let’s say. We brought a live pig home last week. She was cute as could be – a 60lb gilt (young sow) with endearing eyes. She loved the apples and sheep grain I offered and would batt her long eyelashes at me. When Mary Lake came to dispatch the piggy with adorable son Hugo in tow, I felt more hesitation than usual. We don’t have facilities to keep a pig, however, and the thought of crackling pork was enough to go on with the matter. Mary said that our little pig had some parasite damage to her liver and kidneys and wouldn’t have been a good candidate to bear many litters of piglets. That’s some consolation, and we will revisit the idea of raising pigs in our farm plans for next year.
Our first act after slaughter was to figure out a way to remove the hair from the pig. The skin of a slaughtered pig is the tastiest part, but no one wants scruffy hairs all over their plate. Youtube to the rescue – we found a technique where you put a towel on the carcass, pour boiling water on the towel, and then scrape the hair off. Easier said than done! We were having high winds, and the towels cooled rapidly. The hair was as attached as ever and the knife shaved the pig more than it epilated it. We tried a few more water-pours, but didn’t make much progress. Time to throw in the towel, as it were.
So we moved on to Plan B. When Plan B involves a blowtorch, you know it’s a good plan. I dutifully torched all of the remaining hair off that hide. The smell was terrible, but the job was oddly satisfying. Matt and I had to neaten up quickly as we had a date at a restaurant that we love that is closing this fall. Wouldn’t want to go to a real-tablecloth restaurant reeking of blood and scorched hair.
The pig is hanging in our cellar fridge, but we have had a little advanced sample of the liver today. I’m keen to do a better job of using our animals nose-to-tail to honor their sacrifice. I found a promising recipe for liver pate that came out very well. The pate is quite rich and satisfying, featuring the mineral-y liver flavor very favorably. The kidneys were cooked up for the chickens this time, but I’d be keen to hear any good recipes for those if you have them!
