Pork

Last Saturday I got the chance to experience a unique part of Romanian holiday festivities.  It's something that people talk about a lot, but one that I thought I might not get to see as I live in a large city without any livestock in it.  Luckily, my dear friend Angela invited me to her home in a village so that I could experience it before my time in Romania comes to an end.

At this time, I would like to put a disclaimer that if you do not like the sight of blood, this blog post isn't for you.

Julie also joined me on this expedition which started early in the morning as we trekked out to the village which is about a 45 minute walk outside of Onesti.  We were headed to see a traditional pig slaughter.  Families in Romania usually have one pig that they kill a little before Christmas.  The meat is used for the holidays and smoked to last through out the winter.

The pig in question on Saturday was raised by Angela's mother-in-law.  It was actually one of a pair that she raised.  The first pig was killed last year so this pig was two years old and weighed in over 200 kilograms (440 pounds).

We started the morning by visiting the pig which was resting in its stall.  The men then brought the pig out of the stall and bound its feet.  Angela explained that if you have compassion for the pig that it makes it harder for the pig to die so it was best if we went inside.  She and her husband, let her father-in-law and some neighbors deal with the killing. We went inside to the sound of pig screams (which were terrifying) to wait until the pig was deal.  Inside, we found Maia, Angela's youngest daughter, crying on her dad's shoulder about the death of the piggy.

After staying inside for a bit we went back outside to see the butchering process.

First, the hair and top layer of skin are torched. 

Torching

Next, the burned skin is scraped off with a knife.  After the whole pig is scraped it is washed and scrubbed with hot water. 

Scraping

Maia recovered from her initial grief and joined Julie and her older sister, Anda, outside to watch the butchering.

Maia, Julie and Anda

Removing the limbs

After the pig was cleaned, the girls took part in another tradition.  They sat on the pig to bring them luck in the new year.

Sampling pig skin

The pig was then cut along the spine and the fat was separated from the meat.  The fat will be smoked to make slanina which is a traditional Romanian delicacy.

After getting to the meat, a few samples were taken out to be brought to the domestic animal vet in town.  The meat is tested to make sure it is safe to eat.  We got the all clear and Angela then started working on lunch.

butchering

the family cat was very happy

Angela making lunch

lunch

For lunch we ate sauteed fat and meat with garlic sauce and mamaliga (polenta with a course-grain cornmeal). It was delicious, but better than that was getting to share the day with a wonderful and open Romanian family experiencing their traditions.

P.S. Maia decided that she wanted to model her Christmas outfit for us.  Here is a photo of us from the day!