Roast Suckling Pig Picblog (WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES)

[Spinal]

Ok, so as requested, I'm going to upload pictures of the suckling pig as it comes along. I just came back from the butcher and started the brining/marinade process.

This thread will be graphical, and the pictures will be disturbing if you have never seen where meat comes from. If meat to you is a slab of reddish leather in a styreofoam box at Waitrose... and you don't want to change that illusion, don't read on.

This forum is meant to be PG. I would consider this thread (and pictures) appropriate for children, as (imo at least) children shouldn't grow up without knowing where meat comes from. So, parents, before letting your children read this thread unsupervised, make sure you feel it is appropriate for them! (or supervise them while they read this, so that you can explain that Bambi (venison) tastes quite good, as does Babe, Ba-Ba-Black sheep and the hen/duck that lays golden eggs.

So, if you grew up on a farm, this will be business as normal for you. If you are a city kid, this should open your eyes to where meat comes from, the sacrifice that millions of animals make every year, and the respect we should have for them and their sacrifice. (I will stop preaching now... Animal rights is a subject very close to me)






<scroll down for the start of the thread - just trying to keep militant vegetarians out!>



















... Pictures coming as soon as they finish resizing/uploading ...

 

[Spinal]

Without further ado, I shall present... uhmm... BABE! (don't sure me whoever-owns-the-movie-copyright!)

Babe is a 9.5kg, British free range suckling pig (so quite large by suckling pig standards... a 4-6kg would be considered more normal). The mother was fed on organic feed on an RSPCA freedom food monitored farm. In a nutshell, Babe lived a happy (albeit short) life.

Now, for those horrified veggies who are reading this after having seen the pictures... I should explain what a suckling pig is. A pig is... well, a 4 legged mammal. One feature of mammals is that they drink their mother's milk, or suckle. A suckling pig, is a pig that has not eaten any solid food yet, and has not outgrown suckling from the mother. This makes the meat incredibly tender, and full of sticky tissue which melts during cooking giving it all the more flavour and tenderness.

Step 1: Pickup the piglet from the local butcher (amidst a small crowd of horrified nehibors looking at you walking out with a carcass).

Step 2: Wash the carcass, paying particular attention to the face (ears, mouth, nose, mouth) and the cavity

Step 3: Remove any giblets left inside (in my case only the kidneys and a scrap of trachea)

Step 4: Slit the skin. The largest slit there is a little bit too deep (ceramic knifes are incredibly sharp...). You will later salt these slits, but for now, these will allow the marinate to seep in

Step 5: Fit piglet into a coolbox (previously chilled) and then pour on your marinade (frozen preferrably)

In this case, I'm marinating it in a Cider, Honey and Cinnamon mix. So first, I added 2l of chilled cider, then poured in 2 jars of honey and 400-500g of salt (about half a bag). I then added another bottle of chilled cider. Next, 3 bottles of frozen cider (watch out, these are explosive! It took me quite a while to clean up the kitchen from opening one bottle...) This brings the total to 10l of cider (6l frozen and 4l liquid). This covered the piglet but left around 5-6inches before the edge of the coobox, so worked quite well. I am now storing the remaining cider in the freezer, and will add a 2l frozen bottle every 6 hours.

The reason for this is that I didn't have a bucket large enough to fit the whole piglet and then still fit in the fridge. As no one wants to eat meat that has sat outside for a day, I will marinade it in an ice-box. Frozen cider wont dilute the marinade, and keep the temperature at < 4 C. A remote probe meat thermometer should be used to ensure the temperature in the coolbox doesn't go too high.

This will now marinade for 24 hours (i.e. until tomorrow), after which I will start slow cooking it.

M.

P.S. There are a few more pictures on the picasa album: Picasa Web Albums - Michele - Suckling Pig

 

[whitenemesis]

 

[MercFanUk]

Looks like your in for a hell of a meal! When in the army we did the normal chicken stuff - but I'm not sure seeing the face of the little piggy would make it easy for me to eventually hack him to bits haha

 

[Satch]

Not veggie by any means but in general terms do have some ill defined unease/guilt about being faced by food with head still on, even fish.

However it soon passes, apart from the time when an Iranian friend of my wife went around the table sucking the eyeballs out of the heads of poached trout we weak kneed Brits had left untouched.

 

[C240Sport97]

fantastic thread .. have you done this before?

 

[Spinal]

Looks like your in for a hell of a meal! When in the army we did the normal chicken stuff - but I'm not sure seeing the face of the little piggy would make it easy for me to eventually hack him to bits haha

I have no intention of hacking her to bits (at least, I think it's a she... there are LOTS of nipples underneath...) I'm going to slow roast it, then pull it. No hacking The skin will, hopefully, be crispy enough to peel off..

Not veggie by any means but in general terms do have some ill defined unease/guilt about being faced by food with head still on, even fish.

However it soon passes, apart from the time when an Iranian friend of my wife went around the table sucking the eyeballs out of the heads of poached trout we weak kneed Brits had left untouched.

There are some things I feel a bit squeamish with... eyes of anything being one of them. (It's not about the taste, but the texture... the pop is so disconcerting!) but when growing up I was taught to try anything (as long as it's edible and a culture eats it), so I tried my fair share of weird things... an uncooked roast doesn't worry me anymore (though a stall with boiled sheep/goat heads under the sun in Marakesh still haunts me)

fantastic thread .. have you done this before?

Not in the oven... The traditional way in Italy is to dig a pit, fill it with myrth leaves, put the piglet, cover it with more myrth, then bury it with sand. Next, light a bonfire on top of the sand and chat all night, then tend the bonfire all day after... after 20-30 hours, dig up the piglet and it's absolutely... <drool> it's undescribable....

That said, I don't really feel like digging up my back yard again... and it's all clay here, not Tuscan beach sand, so I would end up with a baked clay seal over my food

So I'm going to experiment with the oven this time! (Been thinking of getting a smoker to do this. Something like the bradley electric things)

M.

EDIT: Forgot to say: Do not drink that Tesco Value Cider... it's truly VILE! I bought it only because I needed 20l of marinade and wasn't willing to buy 60 bottles of whitehead's cider... so for the marinade I hope it'll work... but it's truly vile!

 

[Spinal]

I also have a large lamb (looks more like sheep/goat to me! It's about 5-7kg) leg I need to prepare... I'm thinking of doing a moroccan Tajine...

but I don't have a hacksaw that's clean enough.... off to Wickes!

M.

 

[Ted]

Mmmmmm.... Im off to Uxbridge this weekend. Yum yum.

 

[Michael G]

That pig cooked should be lovely.

 

[C240Sport97]

So I'm going to experiment with the oven this time!

it will fit in the oven? is it an extra big oven?

 

[Spinal]

it will fit in the oven? is it an extra big oven?

That's my biggest worry... I think I'll need to curl it up... (the butcher was kind enough to give me a lot of thread)

Worst case, I'll cut it in half and cook the two halves in 2 ovens... Then remerge them. (Tin foil should keep moisture in)

M.

 

[st13phil]

Had suckling pig in Segovia, where it's almost like a religion! Delicious

 

[mattc]

what time do I turn up?!

 

[corned]

I'm on my way!

 

[Druk]

Had suckling pig in Segovia, where it's almost like a religion! Delicious

Me too. In El Bernardino by any chance?

restaurant in spain - segovia - suckling pig and lamb - typical spanish cooking

You have to cut it using two plates to be authentic.

 

[MarkJunedd]

That does look like a tasty little porker.........Enjoy!!!!!! As for being graphic, well I worked for a spell in a cattle abattoir so these pictures should be U not PG.

 

[MercFanUk]

Well. Now I'm starving! I also seem to have a craving for pork and crackling...

 

[st13phil]

In El Bernardino by any chance?

No, afraid not It was in the Parador and while lacking the pedigree of El Bernardino the taste was still superb

 

[splang]

Argh! Just back from the gym and hungry!! Gimme Gimme Gimme Fried (Chicken) PORK!