This lil´ piggy NEVER made it to market......
Some of you may find this funny, others may be really grossed out. So this is my warning…the picture to the left is most likely exactly what you think it is so continue at your own risk…….
This by far was an extremely fun and interesting experience for this American girl. When planning our trip to Algarve I was told that we´d be visiting all sorts of family. One cousin particular that owns a farm and in pure Portuguese tradition every year the family goes there to kill a pig and feast on it all day. Now when John and I first started to date he told me tales of this “pig killing” and how it was done and how the pig squealed and how he felt “a little bit” bad but that it was over fast and the meat tasted delightful. I struggled with my inner self to see if I could and would actually be able to handle this. There were jokes over lots of wine about the American girl and her first pig slaughter…..ahhhh…. such lovely memories.
Anypiggyway….. I found out that this feast would occur on our last day in Algarve,
before we hit the road. The night before I lay in bed awake thinking of what I was going to see. I told John I hoped the pig had a good day and that he ate well and ran around and played all day in his pen. Unbeknownst to him, he would be the
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the next days meal. I woke up the next morning ready to face the slaughter. I was feeling a tad sick but was going to do it anyway. Well I got lucky. By the time we got there, not one, but two small pigs had been stabbed, bled out, and were being cleaned. I approached the table with caution as his cousin and two other men washed the pigs with the up most respect and compassion as if they were still alive. I felt a sense of relief as I had no idea what to expect. I later learned his cousin has been doing this over 25 years and is a very skilled butcher and not only that, really tries to make it as painless and quick as possible for the animal and has gotten into fights with people that have different sort of practices. Well the cleaning went on for quite some time and then it came time to cut the pigs open and clean them out. (I do have more graphic images that are available upon request but I thought I would spare you). Growing up and American girl and in a city area most of my life, I never had an opportunity to see an animal cut open and butchered. When I saw his cousin sharpening his knife outside I caught a glimmer as the sun hit the blade and I have to admit, was a bit scared. I hid behind the large sliding door like a frightened child being forced to meet his or hers big, fat, scary uncle for the first time.
But curiosity got the better of me and I grabbed my camera and watched as the show began. And I have to say watching and experienced butcher at work is one hell of a show. The care and precision he takes with every cut is amazing. He makes it look so easy but I know it takes years and years of practice.
First he takes the knife and makes an incision on the chest and pulls the blade all the way down, opening up the chest cavity and revealing what is inside. The kill, so fresh, that steam starts to pour out of the body because the body is still hot inside. After a few cuts and slices and removal of things I didn’t care to get a close up of, was the removal of the organs. With one quick sweep, he lifts up the organs and they all come out at once as if attached on a large piece of string. And into the bucket it goes. At that point I walked away without asking what becomes of the bucket o’ pig parts. Some things are better left to the imagination.
While eating lunch I had to share the table with family and the fresh killed pig, parts, that is. Let me try and paint you a picture here. Picture two tables, L shaped, the pig being adjacent to where the dinner table was.
Also a bit about the place I was at. The farm was situated on about 5 hectares of land which is “reserved” property belonging to the Portuguese government. So they won’t allow his cousin to build a house there but he is allowed to have a farm and a business. So there is all of this land with every fruit and vegetable you can imagine. While getting the tour I was eating fresh pomegranate. Lovely. He owns a construction company so there are also tons of building materials lying all over the place. Then it’s also a working farm so there were goats, Vietnamese pot belly pigs, white pigs, black and white pigs, ducks, pigeons, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs, and oh- PUPPIES!!!!!!
They have this tiny concrete “house” that is mainly used for showering and sleeping but all of the activity is done in this larger building. It is filled with cabinets, tables, counters, fridges, and kitchen appliances. It’s like living in the kitchen section of IKEA. That being said there it sort of explains the two L shaped tables. Not too far from the table is a very long industrial style door that slides open. They had the door open but even with the fire going inside it was a bit cold. So when it came to lunch I had a bit of a predicament. The table we were eating at was covered in amazing food- fresh pork cooked in the giant fireplace, octopus salad, fish stew, bread, wine, etc etc…… But as I said the table adjacent to us was covered in carved up pigs, head and all. So I had to pick a spot that was not too close to the open door but that wasn’t too close to the pig because hey, it’s kind of gross and stinky. I found a good spot nestled in-between John and his dad that faced the pig because in my twisted head it was better to face the pig that to have my back turned to it. So I am sitting here eating this yummy pork as the head sits on the other table looking right at me. I kept looking at it thinking any second now it will open its eyes and say “DON’T I TASTE GOOD??!!” This is what happens when you can’t fully understand the conversation and you have an over active imagination.
After lunch, I grabbed one of the puppies and put him on my chest, sat in front of the fire, and we took a nap.
