It is hard to count how many new experiences I've had in the last 3 years. And, yes, pig butchering was a first for us. While not squeamish, I can thank being raised on a chicken farm and trauma/post-op nursing for that, I will admit to being intimidated by three 175 pound dead swine that arrived on Jonathan Groff's truck bed from Cape Coast in late September.
As the Groff's redistributed some of their farm wealth, a group of Accra friends were happy to benefit. Pork is eaten here. Most commonly eaten in our neighborhoods is the cleaned intestines chopped into stew, the organs & other miscellaneous parts. The larger cuts are for sale but I'm not yet brave enough to stop a truck full of random chopped animal parts if he has a few pork chops for sale. I could find some things for sale at the larger grocery stores in Accra, but the price is high and often the quality is low.
I can say we would never have tackled this in the States. Are there not professionals for this sort of chopping and dismembering? And shouldn't we worry about life threatening bacteria and contamination?
Our friends, Mattie and Irvin Rudolph & Jonathan Groff, have butchering experience. We followed along and tried to be helpful. After removing the entrails, they needed to be skinned and the head removed. Finally a saw was employed to cut them into two manageable pieces. They were then carried into the house to be processed on the kitchen table by the skilled and swift knives of Mattie and Julia. After the big cuts were removed, the meat was picked off the bones and ground up. Everything, including the heads, was used, with a wheel barrow load of organs and skins going to very willing neighbors.
It was a very good experience for all of us. A front row seat to our link in the food chain. It's good for kids to see the step between the cute little farm animals and the hermetically sealed sausage package at the grocery store.
Pork chops, ham and sausage in the freezer doesn't seem like such an awful thing either. ; )
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| As you can tell by our faces, separating the skin and fat from the meat was a challenge. Behind us you'll see a small smoky fire my Boy Scout husband started to keep the flies away. It worked! |
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| Examining the kidneys. Rory looks like he's about to vomit. He did just fine. The boys were pretty willing to touch and learn about the organs. Elle kept her distance but had a lot of questions. It was a good school day! |
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| The lungs. |
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| Doesn't take much for a party to start around here. |
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| We cut the meat on the kitchen table and then used a borrowed meat grinder to make the sausage. |
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| That was some good sausage we had for supper. When you've worked that hard for something the taste is even sweeter. |
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