Last night I went to a pig butchering class, sponsored by Brooklyn Kitchen (you can see pictures there). I know what you're all picturing--me up to my elbows inside a hog. But no, it was not gory at all. The pig was already slaughtered, so the guts/brains/blood were long gone. In fact, we only saw half of it. The butcher on hand took us through the various cuts of pork, explaining what could be done with each, and then at the end everyone in the class divied up all the pork. It was pretty interesting--even though we never touched a knife or the pig, it's always good to know where meat comes from. Bacon does in fact come from the belly of a pig, not from a plastic package in the supermarket.
I was surprised that so many people volunteered for the lesser-known cuts. I expected the chops and ribs to go first thing, but actually, the head, hocks and jowls went first. I ended up with a nice piece of belly, a couple of big thick country-style ribs with a roast attached, a two-inch chop, and all the lard I could carry. This morning I'm cooking it all down, making rillons (little baked squares of pork belly), barbecued ribs, stock from the bones, and I'm rendering all the lard down. Crisco, eat your heart out.
The rillons are amazing. I'm thinking I may have to rejigger the menu for the first supper club event. And last night, I was able to introduce myself with, "I run an underground supper club in Brooklyn," to many murmurs of approval. This morning, I had my first stranger join the mailing list. Exciting stuff!
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Ahh! That's awesome!! I just thought I would share that for the past couple of years my husband and I and a few of our friends have gone in together and bought a whole pig, as well as a cow from local organic farmers. We tell them the cuts we want and the package weights and when butchering time comes, we get coolers full of AMAZING meat wrapped neatly in white paper packaging. Into the freezer it goes and we have incredibly delicious meat for months and months and months. BTW, the bacon off this pig was seriously the BEST bacon I have ever had in my life. How can I go back to the supermarket after this? PS- Any idea what to do with a cow's heart? We have one in the freezer and we have no idea how to cook it...
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