Cooking a Whole Animal

I have no problems with animals being raised and slaughtered for food. I would like to believe that every animal leads a good life and is slaughtered as humanely as possible, but I know that's not true and for this post it really doesn't matter. I'm not going to get into that here, so PETA people move on. I know that once this pig was in my hands it was treated with respect.

With all that said, I didn't expect to feel anything when I cooked this pig. In a very strange way, I feel responsible for this animal's demise. I asked for a whole pig and it was delivered. I don't believe that this pig was killed on my order, but it just as well may have been. Frankly, the thought bothers me.

Why don't I feel the same connection to the animal parts I pick up "wrapped and cut" in the supermarket of from the butcher? I've never really connected those spare ribs with an animal. I understand where they come from, but the retail meat been so sanitized that the connection back to nature has been lost.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, pigs are the third most consumed animal in the country after chicken and beef. I'm talking retail pounds of flesh consumed per capita. I have no idea how many actual chickens, cows and pigs are slaughtered each year, but in terms of actual pounds of flesh the average American consumed 51 pounds of pig meat in 2007 down from 65 pounds of swine per person in 1950. Pork was the most consumed form of animal flesh in the United States until 1965 was it was overtaken by beef.

So if pig meat is so popular why the squeamishness about cooking or eating a whole animal?

Ever since childhood we've been taught that pigs are cute. Do you remember Charlotte's Web? Babe? Gub Gub? Lester? Little Pig Robinson? And let's not forget the Queen of cuteness- Piglet? I could go on and on. We as a society have an obsession with pigs. Look around any curio shop, kitchen store or thrift shop. How many cute little piggies do you see? Hell, even in my own kitchen we have a ceramic pig dressed in a chef's coat holding a black board. How many barbeque teams feature a comical pig as their mascot or in its logo? Take a quick gander through Suicide Food and see how often a pig is used to represent a good time or a feast.

When I first saw the pig, purchased for me from the fine folks at RUB BBQ as Matt ushered me into their walk-in, it appeared to be sleeping on the shelf amongst all the other meat cuts. Even seeing her lying amongst ribs and pork butts, I didn't make the connection between the familiar cuts of meat and an actual animal. Only when Matt took the pig off the shelf and handed her to me exposing her gutted belly did it begin to register that a life had been given up. Matt and I both felt this and acknowledged it to each other.

Matt placed the pig into my outstretched arms where it hung like a sleeping child. This was getting tough. "Was this "piglet"? "I thought, "I'm going to cook "this"?" Why has this thought never bothered me before? I've cooked whole animals in the past, including pigs. I guess that since this was the first time doing it on my own, I assumed a higher level of responsibility. In other cooks I was the accomplice, here I was the protagonist. Oh, of course, I could blame Ned as this pig was for his birthday party, but once the idea of eating a whole hog was breached, I immediately offered to do the deed. Little did I know that this pig would have an effect on me.

We quickly placed the pig in a cooler, covered her with ice and put it in the trunk of my car. I sped to Brooklyn and Matt returned to the bowels of RUB where he prepared the hundreds of pounds of offerings of flesh served in the restaurant that day.

Driving to Ned's I put the thought of "a pig" out of my mind. With the animal in the trunk of my car, the sweet little pig was just "meat" again and I could focus on preparing it for the party.

She stayed "meat" until it came time to prepare her for cooking. As Kevin Lincoln and I were preparing the pig, one of Ned's female guests arrived and freaked out by the site of the pig laying on the table. With as much macho we could muster, we immediately ridiculed here for her squeamishness. But to be completely honest, Kevin and I both felt something for the animal. This was not a moment to take lightly.

I'm not going to get into the actual preparation as this post is already much too long, but in laying her out on the cooking rack, cleaning and seasoning, naming her as is tradition and placing her on the fire, this slab of meat became an animal once again. It was with some trepidation that I closed the lid for the first few hours of cooking.

Somewhere in the magic of the smoke, this pig became meat again. As the smoke worked on the pig, it also performed a sort of magic on my mind and soul. It changed my attitude towards the animal from pity to respect. When she was finally removed from the fire and I put the first strike of the knife blade into its side, this pig was meat and nothing more. But I did offer a silent prayer of thanks for its sacrifice.

So, from now on when I'm cooking a rack of ribs or a pork shoulder or any cut of meat, I'll remember that this meat is really from an animal that was slaughtered so that I could eat and offer a little prayer in thanks. I recommend you do the same.

Cooking Whole Hog

I'm at a loss as what to write about this event. Cooking a whole animal requires, no demands some respect, but why that is not the case when cooking parts leaves me in a quandary. More later.

Joe York Rules The World And Calms My Nerves

I found this over at Slow Food Rebellion and frankly, I am out right stealing it. Monty stole the video too, so I don't feel so bad. Please go to his blog and read his entire post "Joe York Rules The World," but here's how he starts it off..

"Sometimes when I forget why I started BBQing with extreme prejudice - when I worry more about how to impress KCBS judges rather than my family and neighbors - I'm thrown a bone from a Good Samaritan and I am able to call to mind what a true blessing BBQ is to me and my culture. That bone often comes in the form of a Joe York documentary."

As I'm sweating working out how I'm going to do my pig roast for tomorrow this wonderful video and post made me stop, reassess and relax.

It's only barbecue folks. It's supposed to be fun and simple.

Thank you Monty. Thank you Joe York.

CUT/CHOP/COOK from UM Media Documentary Projects on Vimeo.

BBQ Equipment: Wilmington Grills.

Since I was so verbose yesterday, I'll keep it short and sweet today. Here is a picture of the Ed Mitchell designed and constructed by Wilmington Grills pig cooker that will be used on Saturday. Look at the size of this beast! I can't wait.

BBQ Thoughts: Pig Roasting in the Big City

Everything is in motion. There's no turning back now. Last night Kevin Lincoln of the New York BBQ Lover's Meetup Group and Ned Berke of Sheepshead Bites and I your humble blogger drove up to Norwalk Connecticut and borrowed an Ed Wilson Ed Mitchell designed, not to be confused, as I had just done, with the esteemed Connecticut based pitmaster Ed Wilson, constructed by Wilmington Grills pig roaster from Nancee and Greg of Purple Turtle Catering Company, one of Connecticut's best catering companies and award winning barbecue chefs, in order prepare for the bacchanalian orgy of food and drink that will be served this Saturday in a private yard in Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn.

Scott Smith, pitmaster extraordinaire of New York City's premiere barbecue joint RUB has ordered the 60lb or so sacrifice of pork for me that will be roasted and smoked by us and I'll be picking it up Friday.

Now the work falls on my shoulders. How will I prepare said hog? Will it be injected? Rubbed? Cooked skin up or down? Butterflied? Stupefied? Testified? Will we be doing a pig picking where all you need is a beer in one hand and a fork in the other? Or will the pig be removed from its fiery grates and its body parts carved up into more, shall we say "acceptable" presentation serving pieces for the less squeamish?

I got some thinking to do as this will be my first pig cooking done solo. Well, not really solo as I will be turning to the ever talented Kevin Lincoln for assistance and RUB's Matt Fisher for his chefly advice and counsel.

Pray for good weather. Pray for sanity. Pray for properly cooked swine. As the bible says...

"There were burnt offerings in abundance, together with the fat of the fellowship offerings and the drink offerings that accompanied the burnt offerings. So the service of the temple of the LORD was reestablished."

Now I don't know about re-establishing the temple, but a good time is guaranteed for all.

Photo of the pig roast above courtesy of A Brooklyn Life, whom I've never met and from whom I stole this picture and whose blog I enjoy even if it is so focused on the hipster side of the borough ignoring its heart, but am inviting to this pig roast nonetheless.

PS. Do you think I got enough links into one post?

Pig Roast

I'm off to Norwalk CT, tonight to borrow one of these bad boys to cook a 60lb pig for a friend's birthday this weekend. Come out to Brooklyn on Saturday!

The Big Brooklyn Pig Roast

This just in to my mailbox.....

The Big Brooklyn Pig Roast…

And Harvest Hoedown is coming Oct. 10!

Nothing says harvest like the crackle of hot, crispy pig skin, especially when that skin is covering a 200-lb Berkshire hog, roasted whole over an open barbecue pit by Tom Mylan, Brooklyn’s favorite butcher.

Hosted by Brooklyn Based, Sweet Deliverance, Ear Farm and The Yard, the first annual Big Brooklyn Pig Roast and Harvest Hoedown is a prelude to the following day’s Harvest Festival at The Yard, and a celebration of all the best the season has to offer.

Snuggle up to someone special with a pint of Sixpoint and a plate of pork tacos, roast corn, fresh salsas, greens, warm apple crisp and cinnamon ice cream from Blue Marble. Then turn up your heels to the Americana twang and hillbilly swerve of The Jones Street Boys, Motel Motel, and Bel Air, as the lights sparkle on the Gowanus Canal.

Joshua Applestone of Fleisher’s Grass Fed and Organic Meats will be on hand to talk about why properly raised pigs are so delicious, and a member of the New Farmer Development Project, which the dinner will benefit, will speak about their work with farms. And Not Eating Out in New York blogger Cathy Erway is lending a hand with dessert.

Sixpoint beers $1 from 6-7. Five percent of proceeds benefit New Farmer Development Project. Tickets $32 in advance, available online at http://tinyurl.com/42yylc, or $40 at the door. (Free for kids 10 and under.) Click flyer to enlarge.