The Whole Hog: Understanding Where Your Food Comes From

By D G Miller

My first day at the Country Cat restaurant in Portland, Oregon I watched Adam Sappington butcher a whole hog: it was probably one of my most memorable experiences at the restaurant. I came in a couple hours early because I didn't know anyone and didn't yet know how this restaurant operated. I was searching, even before the restaurant had opened, for this job. I did not yet know it, but I desired to gain a fuller understanding of the food world by going back to the basics and becoming involved with a chef who did EVERYTHING from scratch.

Adam started his career at Wildwood restaurant. Wildwood opened in 1994 and was the first farm to table restaurant in Portland. Produce arrived at the back door straight from the farm. Other restaurants were still buying food from large distributors like Sysco or FSA. The idea to butcher a whole hog was not yet entered into the culinary jargon...chefs were still sprinkling parsley around the rim of the plates for decorative reasons! Adam spent the next 11 years learning about the food that came from the bountiful Oregon farms and ranches.

The Portland restaurant scene had not yet developed to the point that chefs took that next step: they were still relying on processors to break a whole hog down into the primal cuts. Those chefs would then receive the primal cuts and fabricate them down to use for the menu items. Bacon arrived at the restaurant already brined, smoked and sliced...the art of butchery had not yet become revitalized.

"Butcher a whole hog," my boss says, "or turn your back on what food is about. Good food ain't easy." The diet of the hog, the manner in which it was raised, and the manner in which it was slaughtered all alter the taste of the meat. To truly understand your food you have to know all the variable surrounding the pig. Good food certainly is not easy. Humans have been diligently studying this complex challenge for many thousands of years: how to alter the chemical properties of food to maximize nutrition and taste.

I don't know everything about the restaurant business, but I do know the benefits of being able to butcher a whole hog and how to use the whole animal. I know, from personal experience on my grandfather's farm, that a farmer who loves his animals and treats them with respect will produce the best quality product. Find out which restaurants in your area butcher a whole hog and support their efforts to go back to the food basics.

D.G. Miller created http://duckspoon.com as a vehicle to both capture his family's favorite recipes as well as teach folks how to cook beautiful food from scratch. Duckspoon is a user generated website created in the hopes of sharing family recipes and bringing people together. So come watch us butcher a whole hog at http://duckspoon.com

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