A Petit Cochon on Independence Day
For July 4th, we decided to roast a suckling pig, whip up some pimiento cheese, Boston baked beans, and shortcake, and invite about 20 people to bring other side dishes. We bought our suckling pig from the Chapolards, my butchery mentors in Southwest France, but neglected to specify what, in our minds, a suckling pig weighed. The pig we ended up with was only 2 months old and, quite a bit younger than we had assumed it would be. (In photo: yes, that’s me in a hairnet.)
We rubbed its insides with salt and pepper, stuffed it with rosemary and fennel, and then inserted a half baguette inside its cavity to help it keep its shape. 
For roasting it, we borrowed a makeshift (but genius) electric spit from our neighbors (I’m hoping my tinkering dad will reproduce it back in the states) made out of a bicycle wheel and a motor.
Having at least enough foresight to realize this pig would not feed 20 people, we bought a huge Boston butt to roast alongside it, for pulled pork that we slathered with tangy North Carolina barbecue sauce as well as Kate’s homemade fig barbecue sauce.
Our friends arrived–American and British expats, Spanish and French folk, and a few dogs, including a Boston terrier named Boscoe (lots of Boston going on here). We drank champagne and played boules. We snacked on cornnuts made in Morocco, anchovy stuffed olives from Spain, and pork hot dogs from France. The French were especially impressed with my pimiento cheese.
And finally, after about 5 hours, the pig was ready. Most of the French people who attended the party had already mentioned to me at some point in the evening that they didn’t even like suckling pig, because it had no flavor–”Crazy Americans,” I’m sure they were thinking. They were right of course. It had very little fat on it, and so the skin didn’t crackle and crisp up like we wanted it to. And, after tasting those little baby ribs next to my pulled pork, taken from a pig that was a year old, I have decided that aside from being tender, baby pig isn’t anywhere near as good as a full-grown one. Perhaps it would have been better had we brined it, but it would still be missing that quintessential pork flavor. 
Nonetheless, alongside my mother’s baked beans (which the French were also fascinated by, save for the fact that there was ketchup in it, which they did not approve of), the suckling pork was still more than satisfying. As seems to be the French way, the first to arrive were the last to leave, a good sign indeed. Happy Fourth of July!
There are 5 Comments to "A Petit Cochon on Independence Day"
I have enjoyed your blog. I spent some time in Parengia near Issoir as a high school exchange student in the 1980s. I am looking for a recipie or process for curing hams. I remember when I was in France that they would take hams and put them in a bag with ashes from the fire place and a number of months later they had cured ham. I amsure that it was much more complicated then all that and I was wondering if you could document the process so that I could try it here in South Carolina. This process made a ham much like prosciutto but french and not Italian. Can you help?
Thanks in advance.
Jim Dorchak
Greer SC 864 469-6093
Hi Jim,
I haven’t witnessed jambon made with ashes here. In fact, the jambon that the Chapolards were making were prepared pretty simply. They are cured in a special curing salt, made specifically for curing pork, for about a week (I think, but I want to confirm that that is correct), and then hung in an old chimney over a pile of wood shavings that are slowly smoking. I also need to confirm how long they smoke it for, but I believe it’s just a few days. Then they hang them in a kind of accelerated curing room and it’s this stage that is important for achieving whatever texture is you are looking for–be it more like the silky texture of prosciutto, or a slightly rougher, crumbly texture. While it is hanging, the acidity of the meat changes, depending on the fluctuation of the temperature, which, even if it is regulated by a computer, can be effected by the weather outside. When I visited the butcher shop in Moissac, see my latest post, the owner said he only liked to sell ham that was made in the French Basque country in the Pyrenees, because the weather is better for curing there.
We did some research on where to find such curing ovens/rooms as the one the Chapolards use. I’m not sure how easy they are to find in the states, but I know there are people in the States who will help you convert an old refrigerator into a curing fridge. Here is the link to the curing oven company that the Chapolards bought from. They apparently have a distributor in Canada but not the United States yet.
http://www.arcos-agro.com
This has been so helpful. If you get further details please let me know. I would like to try this type of curing. We are slaughtering some 60 pound piglets on wednesday, I call them freezer pigs. They will probably dress out at 30 to 35 pounds.
Thank you so much for your blog. Please visit mine.
Also you should try face booking. I would love to see your posts there as well.
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Jim Dorchak
How many piglets are you slaughtering? Did you raise them yourself? How old are they?
You should check this book out, a great reference on home curing: http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Craft-Salting-Smoking-Curing/dp/0393058298
I will be slaughtering 4 pigs. My friend Jim Curley raises pigs, and has asked me to help him with the job since when I was a young man I worked in an slaughtering house for on and off for about 6 years. The piglets are only a few months old and weigh about 50 to 60 lbs. They will probably dress out at +/-30 lbs. I call them freezer pigs since they will fit in a freezer whole with out a lot of trouble.
Thanks for the link……..
I will try to take pix of the event.
Jim Dorchak