Killing a pig

[Dormouse]

We are due to move to Dept 42 (Loire) shortly.

Mr Dormouse has been promised the delights of joining in the local Macho Get Together of pig killing.

I am avoiding it, but working on the theory that it will include (possibly through necessity to get through the day) a lot of alcohol I have promised to pick him up from the Event.

Has anyone participatedin such an event? What should Mr D expect from the day?(besides some saucissons and ham, that is?)

[Dormouse]

I put the wrong smiley face on the thread title - it looks very happy at the thought of pig killing. I think I meant to put one on that looked more like this:

 

[Teamedup]

You could have edited it Dormouse, just opened your post and clicked on edit and changed it.

[Alexis]

Barbaric.

It sounds highly illegal to me.  I can just imagine the chaos.  Load of drunks all thinking they are having a good time and a pig frightened to death and squealing.

What a wonderfull way to spend an afternoon.

ALL animals, poultry etc have to be killed in an abbatoir or by certified butchers in their abbatoir to make sure hygene regulations are followed and some compassion for the animal is shown. 

Killing on the farm is not allowed any more.  Up here anyway.

[le bouffon]

Sorry alexis you are totally wrong,last march/april we went to see a pig being slaughtered in a village square and then cut up in to joints chops etc very expertly done by the locals would recommend it.Never tried the boiled blood they had on offer for it was still warm.

[Furry Knickers]

This is so horrendous! It is without doubt, the worst thing I have ever read on this site in my whole life! Human men are the most dangerous creatures in the whole wild world! You should leave your husband to make his own way home and have no part in this atrocity.

I am going off now to hug my beautiful pig in the garden (his name is Alberto by the way)

[Christine Animal]

Sir L'Ocelot, I am so relieved you stepped in to defend that poor pig.  For a while there I thought he was going to finish in that Frenchman's lunch box.

[Alfa]

ER.....Furry Knickers (Jesus Christ.... what sort of image does that conjure up !!!!  It sort of reminds me of back in the 1960's when a very talented female artist took a perfectly normal cup and saucer and covered them in rabbit fur........she called the consequent fur covered cup and saucer the 'furry cup' and - surprise, surprise ... the great British public hailed it as an outstanding work of art (and completely missed the joke/point).) ....what are your shoes made of  FK ?  Lemon grass ? A green salad ? A decent papier mache might last a week or two with light use.        Leather perhaps ?  

I find it offensive that you pick on 'men' for eating pigs and it might surprise you to learn that I (also) find the thought of slaughtering pigs offensive .... but not because I am a vegetable (sorry, vegetarian) but mainly because there is an uncanny resemblance to the sound of someone killing a pig to the warbling misery of Maria Carey attempting what she euphemistically describes as 'singing'.

A truly horrible noise I must agree... but good roast pork is sublime so please don't 'knock' it !!!!

All joking apart ... Happy grazing FK (Any chance of a recipe for boiled soil ?.. just to keep my vegetable (sorry again, I really did mean vegetarian) friends happy ?

Alfa. 

[Will]

Without going into the morals or ethical issues, this is one of those things that seem, as a generalisation, to be a part of everyday life to the rural French and totally abhorrent to the English. I'm not getting into the gender issues here - I have no desire whatsoever to be part of this but I know a French lady (very well educated, not your average peasant) who kills and butchers her own pigs, not to mention geese, rabbits, ducks, chickens etc.

It may be illegal according to the letter of the law, but it's a family occasion here in France with everybody helping out - draining the blood to make boudin noir, boiling and cleaning the innards for andouilette - yuck.

Yet my grandfather used to do exactly the same in England and it was accepted then.

[Alfa]

Well said Will the Conqueror!!!

A good point well put.

(makes my posting look puerile !)

Alfa.

[Christine Animal]

Yes it does.  Noone here has said they are vegetarian.  But there are "humane" ways of doing things and "humane" ways of laughing about it.

We all know that in France "on tue le cochon".  There is very often a charcutier friend or member of the family who takes control of events, with all the others helping. 

[Furry Knickers]

Mr Conker, Give me that womans name and address and I shall write her a very strong letter about her terrible treatment of innocent creatures that have never done any harm to her or her family and friends. And what has a man goose got to do with this?

Mr Alfa (I love your Spiders)

My shoes are made from simulated rubber and carpet, why do you need to know that?

Men eating pig is not the issue! it is the needless slaying and torture of an innocent pig for no other reason than a bit of sport for a bunch of mindless, big macho, drunken, hairy ejits, out of their heads on pastys and mutant cadet!  I find that offensive!

I am not sure what you are on about with the cup sculpter or it's revelance to that poor Pig who is in his last days of life on earth unless he can be saved! I have sent an email to Lionel Blair this evening, asking him to intervene in this matter, and save the life of this little animal that I have called Lawrence. I hope others among the forum will also try to prevent his termination in such a horrific manner!

[Missy]

[quote]We are due to move to Dept 42 (Loire) shortly. Mr Dormouse has been promised the delights of joining in the local Macho Get Together of pig killing. I am avoiding it, but working on the theory ...[/quote]

AH! Killing a pig!

Yes! it does involve a lot a alcohol for the men but then when the usual time for killing is in October/November it is only for warming oneself up!

It involves a lot of cooking for the women. Butchering the meat, packing it, freezing it, making patés, rillons, rillettes, andouilles, saussices and the very best! boudin noir!! As a little girl who grew up with farming folks I remember distinctly the making of boudin noir at my Gran's farmhouse. The blood had been collected and put into this huge cauldron with some barley (previously soaked in some secret strange broth) finely chopped onions, garlic, spices and herbs and forever gently stirred over a lowish heat for the liquid to coagulate nicely, until it was all curdled and ready to put into casing (sausage casing that is) One of my favourite meals when I go and visit my french family, their home made boudin noir!

Mrs Dormouse,  I hope Mr Dormouse is a strong man in all senses of the word

1/ for a strong hearty stomach for what he will about to witness! Not for the faint hearted believe you me!!

2/ intake of alcohol certainly!

3/ and heavy work to move the carcasse about and hang it to get the blood for the boudin noir and for the butchering.

His french at the end of the session will have come on tremendously! and you will have good people to rely on should you need it. The best networking he'll have ever done

Hope that he won't be so comatosed  that he'll forget the day and he can tell us all about it

Alexis :

Barbaric it may be but if it is the last morcel on this earth for you to eat what do you do ?... It all comes from somewhere in that raw state before it is supa-dupa wrapped/served to you in the supermarket...

These people have lived so since before the hills and mountains were made and you won't drum it down their throat any otherwise...

also if killing the pig on the farmer's premises is no longer allowed then my french family possibly are either illiterate and can't read the notice, or deaf and can't listen to it being broadcast or not around on the day it was declared.... Possibly the 3 together...

[Christine Animal]

But Missy, so you are French ? !    

 

                     

 

           

[Alexis]

I said that it was illegal up here in Brittany and so it is.  I checked.  I can't say for the other Departments because everywhere has their own rules.

I can only speak for the probable state of the equipe too as the Bretons like a bottle or two.  After three or four Ricard's, obviously.  The equipe in 42 might all be togged up in white boiler suits wearing masks and shiny white wellies, all very professional.  Not in jackets tied up with a bit of band and half a dozen dogs at their feet.  To help things along incase the pig digs his trotters in.

No, I think it sounds horrifying.  No.  I'm not a vegetarian either but there is a limit.  Yes, I have lived in the country all my life so I know what goes on.

Not in my house though.

[Christine Animal]

What's happened to poor Missy again?  I shall never know what she wanted to say...  

[Ex Forum Admin]

Missy wrote:

 

Yes!

I am French

But stuck in Wales!

Missy

!!!!!!!!!!! :¬) :¬D !!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm looking into the distortion of the posts at the mo.

 

 

[Christine Animal]

Thank you.

[Furry Knickers]

Hello Mrs Animal

I like your little embroidered cat face, he is very cute!

I remember when I was a lad back in County Kildare, I tried to embroider a Cat for a school project, of course as soon as I stuck the needle in him, he went hysterical and flew out the door like a mad thing! I never saw him again after that. I was broken hearted, and did not realise what I had done! I was only 12 at the time. Me Mammy bought me a Pussy Willow Tree to comfort me, She said "shur you can grow your own cats now you have your own pussy tree" I said to her "will I really be able to grow me own cats on the tree Mammy?" She replied "the branches on that tree will be bending with cats in the summer" Then one day in the following summer, she got all the neighbours to bring their cats round and put them in me tree, can you imagine how I felt when I saw my tree full of lovely cats? Later that day when I discovered all the cats were gone, Mammy said "a crowd of Tinkers came along and picked all the cats off the tree" I cried me heart out!

"when the cat falls from the tree, he is probably dead" as they say in County Kildare!

[Dormouse]

Lordy, didn't mean to get people upset...

I didn't mean it was going to be a drunken orgy of senseless killing (unless you are vegetarian, in which case, yes, it is senseless) - I think Missy gave me the kind of answer I was looking for, but I can appreciate the viewpoint of others. And once more apologise to those who got upset. I just see it as a French country custom that we (or rather he) has been invited to join in with. In a way, without vegetarian scruples to fall back on, it would seem rude to refuse...

I saw the alcohol as a helping hand, but I wouldn't have expected Mr D to be legless - after all, as I appreciated and Missy confirmed, there's a lot to do and you don't want to be drunkenly reckless with sharp knives about!

I'm assuming it's legal; they certainly get a qualified butcher in to do the "dirty work" and the way it was described to us didn't seem as barbaric as loading herds of pigs into an overcrowded lorry to be taken to the abbatoir. The pig is reasonably happy in its pen at home until the butcher arrives and does his stuff.

Thanks for the info, Missy, and for the responses, both negative and positive in nature!

[Motorhead]

Don't listen to them Dormouse.

Having attended both home and abbatoir slaughters I know where I would rather send my last minutes, although in an abbatoir it would be more like last hours.

If the meat is not going to be sold there is absolutely no need to subject the pig to all the stress involved in the transport to and then the waiting at the abbatoir where they can see the other pigs being taken away and then hear their screams. Pigs (and goats too) are quite smart creatures and know exactly whats happening.

Of course if the meat is going to be sold  you have to use an abbatoir but this has absolutely nothing to do with (non human) animal welfare, it is all about public health. It's much easier for the authorities to keep an eye on what goes into the food chain that way.

At a properly conducted home slaughter the beast won't know what's happening until the last couple of seconds. I hardly think there will be any drinking until at least later on.

1st stage: Slip a couple of ropes on the back legs.

2nd stage: Shoot pig between the eyes.

3rd stage: Hoist the brain dead pig up high by the back legs.

4th stage: Cut throat and drain blood whilst heart still beats.

5th stage: Throw buckets of boiling water over the carcase to aid the scraping off of the bristles.

Now it may just be me but I'd think it more than a bit daft to start the drinking before the boiling water gets chucked about.

I hope that folk will notice here that the pig is shot either with a gun or a captive bolt before any bloodletting. This does not happen in an abbatoir where they use electrodes to stun the pig and which may or may not keep the pig stunned untill death by bloodloss. It's not nice to hear the pig regain consciousness and try to scream with a cut throat.

Halal slaughter in abbatoirs is even worse. It's very fortunate that muslims don't eat pork, however that's no consolation at all for the poor goats.

[Christine Animal]

While on the subject of killing for meat, the OABA, Oeuvre d’Assistance aux Bêtes d’Abattoirs has done tremendous work to help farm animals. They do not say we should not eat meat, but do all they can to improve life on the farm, transport, markets and abattoirs.

It was founded by Madame Jacqueline Gilardoni, a wonderful person, who sadly died a few years ago and whose mission was « Halte à La Souffrance ».

http://www.oaba.fr/html/Accueil_sommaire/page_d'accueil.htm

 

 

Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind. Albert Schweitzer

[Missy]

[quote]We are due to move to Dept 42 (Loire) shortly. Mr Dormouse has been promised the delights of joining in the local Macho Get Together of pig killing. I am avoiding it, but working on the theory ...[/quote]

If you would like to know more about killing a pig you must read Anthony Bourdain's latest (ish) book : 'A cook's tour in search of the perfect meal' published by Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-5821-3

He is a top chef in New-York from French 'stock'!    What a pun!! i.e he has French distant relatives....

One of his chef is Portuguese and has invited him to Portugal to witness the 'killing a pig' ceremonial... All in the first chapter describing his worldwide search for a perfect dish!

It is as much as Mr Dormouse will see it happening...