from Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall, The River Cottage

"It seems obvious to me that the morality of meat eating lies in the factual details of our relationships with the animals we kill for food. It is what we do to them that counts. There is the simple fact that we plan and carrry out their slaughter. And, in the case of farmed animals, there are the more complex interactions through which we manage and control almost every aspect of the lives, from birth to death. From where do we draw the moral authority to bring about their deaths? And what is the moral status of the means and methods we use to run their lives?" 

from "The River Cottage Meat Book" by Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall, 2004 and 2007.

Pigstock 2010

I attended a hog butchering seminar this past weekend near Branchville NJ, about 90 minutes north of Newark airport put on by the Mosefund Farm. http://www.mosefund.com/pigstock2010_XX.html

The seminar was sponsored by Michael Clampfer of Mosefund Farm and taught by Christoph and Isabel Weisner from Gollersdorf, Austria. Christoph is the president of Austria's Mangalitza Pig Breeders Union.

Bob Del Grosso has written a beautiful description of the event. Here's his blog:
http://ahungerartist.bobdelgrosso.com/

He's also posted a movie of the first pig we killed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgJf8xAtpRM

As a non-chef, I was a bit intimidated, but everyone was very welcoming and open. Christoph and Isabella have done several of these before, including an event at the Herbfarm, and clearly know what they're doing.

Heath Putnam, the man responsible for bringing the Mangalitza to the western hemisphere, was also there talking with several of the chefs present from Dallas, Baltimore and Manhattan. http://woolypigs.com/

The event was hosted by Mosefund Farm, and managed by Michael Clampfer, who works as a chef at the Farm. They have over 100 Mangalitsa from Heath's herd and are trying to build a market for this remarkable type of pork on the east coast. The pigs living quarters were positively lavish with lots of clean bedding, plenty of feed and 24 hour access to a large pasture area up the hill a few hundred yards. These pigs were about as un-confined as I've ever seen. Hat's off to the Mosefund owners for their passionate and humane approach to animal husbandry.

First day consisted of killing seven animals. The first was a small yearling pig that we later roasted for dinner. The other six were full grown animals weighing in at 250 - 300 pounds. They were all stunned with a captive bolt pistol, something I've never worked with before, but was amazingly effective and quiet. The pigs went down instantly. Then a very small neck stick to bleed them. We applied a pine resin (from Austria) to the hair prior to dunking them in a bathtub of hot (150 degree) water for several minutes. Christoph and Isabell demonstrated the very simple technique of removing the hair with a chain pulled back and forth between them. This got at least 80% of it. The remainder was removed by hand, using a scraper device, brush or propane burner. End result was an absolutely clean animal without a trace of hair. Then evisceration and splitting, leaving us with 12 hanging sides of pork which spent the next 36 hours hanging in the barn, cooling down. This took us till well past 6 pm, after which we had a stand up dinner of the yearling pig we had killed earlier. Delicious.

Day 2 we spent indoors at a local firehouse kitchen cooking the "fifth quarter" - brains, livers, spleen, head, kidneys, lungs and heart. Head cheese, greaves and blood sausage were some of the products. Fascinating stuff. We also had a preliminary demonstration from Christoph on how we would be breaking down our sides the next day.

Day 3 it was back outside at Mosefund, where we broke down all 12 sides. Christoph again demonstrated his amazing technique and skill. He would show us a few cuts, then it was everyone back to his or her table to do the same with their side. Even though I didn't take home any pork, Erno (a local vet who makes amazing saurkraut) graciously let me practice on his.

Mission Statement

Chimacum Meats

A rural abattoir in the pacific northwest, focused on teaching the professional arts of humane animal husbandry & slaughter, butchering and charcuterie to non-professionals in the community.

1) Chimacum Meats is a small scale farm-based butchershop in Chimacum Wa, dedicated to small scale processing, distribution and consumption of locally raised beef, pork and lamb, and to the preservation and education of old world, artisanal methods of preserving these products.

2) All animals are either raised on site or purchased live from local farmers who use sustainable organic methods and and who feed their livestock only local organically produced grass, hay, barley, wheat and whey. Chimacum Meats honors and respects our domesticated livestock animals who, because of their service to us, deserve to be treated with the utmost respect and care. They have given or will give their lives for our benefit. We owe them a debt of gratitude. And to allow them to live their lives in dignity and peace. And to sacrifice and consume them with the utmost of respect and honor.

3) All meat is sold in quarter carcass amounts or larger and is not USDA inspected. Facilities are commercial grade and meet all code requirements for safe meat handling including a full size walk-in refrigerator. All meat is intended solely for private use and consumption. All butchering and other processing is done by the purchasers/owners of the meat with those individuals responsible for their own meat and its safety.

Suggested reading:
1) Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game - John J. Mettler, DVM
2) Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery - Jane Grigson
3) Charcuterie - Michael Ruhlman
4) Cooking by Hand - Paul Bertolli
5) Bruce Aidells Complete Book of Pork: A Guide to Buying, Storing and Cooking the Worlds Favorite Meat

6) The Whole Beast - Nose to Tail Eating - Fergus Henderson
7) The Art of Making Fermented Sausage - Stanley Marianski and Adam Marianski

8) The River Cottage Cookbook - Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall; p. 139 - 169

"It seems obvious to me that the morality of meat eating lies in the factual details of our relationships with the animals we kill for food. It is what we do to them that counts. There is the simple fact that we plan and carrry out their slaughter. And, in the case of farmed animals, there are the more complex interactions through which we manage and control almost every aspect of the lives, from birth to death. From where do we draw the moral authority to bring about their deaths? And what is the moral status of the means and methods we use to run their lives?" - from "The River Cottage Meat Book" by Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall, 2004 and 2007.