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In honor of the pig - roasting the whole hog
Until last year, I had never seen an animal cooked whole. To be honest, even as a devoted omnivore, I wasn't sure how I would feel about it. At my first whole hog dinner, I watched the pig being taken off the fire and was awed by how beautiful it was as the glazed, crispy skin caught the light. The pig was magnificent.
 As I ate my meal that night, I was ever so thankful for having the chance to honor this glorious animal as it was, grateful for the connection to my food and for experiencing a meal that didn't come out of a shrink wrapped package. Over the summer, my fooodie friends and I bandied about the idea of roasting a pig ourselves. We talked about how we might cook the pig - did we need to dig a pit, could we use a spit? In the end, Marshall from Eat this Lens secured a La Caja China, a Chinese roasting box that makes it very easy to cook a whole animal.  There was no debate about where we would get the pig. Jim and Kay Richardson from Richardson Farms raise their animals with such love and care that we knew they were the only choice for our pig. On the appointed day, Marshall picked up our pig from the Richardsons and the preparations began. There were the usual hiccups when you take on something new. The pig wasn't completely thawed so there were some slightly comic machinations as we figured out how to thaw it whole. (Think Ethel and Lucy thaw a pig.) We had to splay the pig before putting him in the box. Our pig was a little big for the box, but we managed to make it work.  With the La Caja China, you place the charcoal on top and the heat cooks the pig through. About an hour and a half out, you flip the pig so the bottom gets crispy as well.  ''When we took the pig out of the box, the aroma was incredible as the backyard filled with the salty scent of bacon. We gingerly carried the pig inside and let it sit for a bit before Marshall started carving. His biggest challenge was keeping the foodie fingers out of the way while he carved.  In all, the day was a huge success and a great day of learning. Again, I was awed by the magnificent pig and its sacrifice, and grateful for being able to share this bounty with friends. If you'd like to enjoy a similar journey, Edible Austin is hosting a pig roast for Eat Local Week at Springdale Farm, this Saturday December 4th at 5 pm. Join us in celebrating our local purveyors and the whole hog. See you at the Pig Roast! View the full photo set on Flickr.  related searches : Honor
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