We knew this morning was the day for the Davidovic's pig to be butchered, but still wanted to get a walk in. I barely made it over to the meeting place before mom and Karin showed up. Karin was drinking her first cup of coffee of the morning and wasn't going to come out and walk but mom insisted. Karin sat right down on the golf cart and rode the entire walk with me while mom got her exercise. Mom was asked "if the cart can't make it up the hill will you push?"
at 8:05am the video camera was packed into the car and off I drove the 1 mile over to the Davidvics. They had a barrel of water heating up over a nice hot fire. The pig was about 260 pounds and laying quietly in the stock trailer. When Fede went into the stock trailer to bring her out, the video camera was started and to my dismay not working. It was taken apart later and fixed but not of any use during the butchering. Probably a good idea. Karin came later and video taped some of the process. Below is the weapon of choice for the dastardly deed.
Actually I was impressed with how humane Fede did this. The pig was led out of the trailer, quietly laid down and Fede put the knife directly into the jugular. The pig did not even squeal. She just went to sleep quietly as she bled out. I think his knife was so sharp it sliced through quicker than her brain could tell her it hurt. Once she was in a coma, the same knife was used in the same hole to reach her heart stopping it instantly. By this time many helpers had arrived and carried the pig over to a bathtub prepared near the fire. Once the pig was in the tub buckets of boiling water were poured over the body which allowed the hair to be pulled off easily. The helpers were given spoons to start scraping the hide clean, using boiling water when necessary. Once the hide was cleaned Fede prepared a bed of straw to lay the pig on.
He had the straw completely covering the pig then started it on fire. This burns off any hair missed and makes the skin crisp. Once both sides were nicely browned, they hosed and scrubbed the pig off until it was a golden color, then carried it inside his shop for the dismembering. The pictures below are graphic, perhaps children should not be allowed to view them.
We were very impressed with how Fede knew exactly where and how deep to cut, exactly what to remove to make the rest easier.
The head was put in a bucket with the legs for rendering later. Anni was good enough to pick up the head for the picture.
Rhonda and Noel did not come over to help, just to watch.
As each piece of meat was removed, it was taken into the house for the ladies to either cut it up for what is called "butcher's stew" or placed in a tub for grinding into sausage, or wrapped and placed in the freezer.
Fede's sister Cilla showed us how to cook the "butcher's stew" and served it to us for lunch. I'm still burping up garlic!
Now the Romanians use almost everything of the pig, there is very little waste. Fede told us a pig this size would be stretched to last a year in Romania. They divide the spine up into 12 equal parts and once a month cook a big pot of soup with it. They have soup at almost every dinner meal using a bone or 2. We as Americans have had it very easy, we want meat we go to a store. It is good for our children and grand children to realize exactly what we are eating and HOW it came about. AS Karin would say, "Appreciate this pig, she gave her life so we could eat."
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