So is a new trend? (IMAGE WARNING: ROASTING PIG)

[yuiyoshida]

Yesterday my neighbors pulled out this giant metal box, filled it with charcoal, and roasted a whole Pig on there. I did not participate as I do not eat pork, but wondered if this was a new thing... instead of the back yard barbecue, having a ton of people over for a whole roast pig.



I know that fried Turkey was a thing for a while...but its too damn dangerous.. So..is this the new deal?
How many of you have tried this? I am just curious if this is a new trend...

51 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Done it!
	40 (78%)
	Never done it...
	0 (0%)
	I would never do it
	4 (8%)
	Cool! I would do it!!
	3 (6%)
	ALL THE BACON IS MINE!!
	2 (4%)
	I don't care what they do so long as the smoke stays outside!!
	2 (4%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Voice for Peace]

1. AUGH this needs a disclaimer, it is a horrible photo to see for people who love animals and

that pig doesn't look too happy either.. sorry don't mean to dampen your enthusiasm

but that pig was somebody's baby.. pigs are smarter than dogs too.. and loving and cute and they cry when their mothers are taken away for bacon and they have to live in a tiny box till it's their turn

[Quantess]

2. I agree, it's pretty disturbing to all the vegetarians and vegans.

It needs some kind of warning.

[Drahthaardogs]

73. Think how us meat eaters feel when we see a salad commercial...

[Quantess]

75. I love that video!

He's done some other satirical videos.

[PJMcK]

77. That's brilliant!

Thanks, Drahthaardogs.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

88. Ban all Salad-Shooters! nt

[smirkymonkey]

124. I love J.P. Sears!

He has a series of videos like this. One of my favorites is the "Gluten Free" video.

[yuiyoshida]

137. Baked Tonkatsu (pork cutlet)

THIS is pork, in Japanese. (Pig=Buta) But They don't have a huge Pork Roast in Japan, that I know of. I may be wrong...but I have never seen anything about it in all my studies of Japan. Perhaps my Japanese friends can confirm this, I will have to ask.

[yuiyoshida]

3. Well Hell I know that but

They are also food for people... and though YOU or I may not eat Pork, A lot of people here do, so no, I won't take the photo down.. IT gives people the idea of how the pork was roasted. I am sorry if that upsets some people, but... I want to know if this is a trend that's happening or if its just a rare thing.

Its not Like someone is eating your dog or cat... okay? This isn't SOUTH KOREA.

[Voice for Peace]

25. I think mostly disturbing bc there wasnt a warning before. I know people eat pigs and I don't judge

anybody on that account but it is still hard to look at.

Like another poster said it's easier to take all chopped up and wrapped and packaged, unidentifiable as something with eyes and feelings. I couldn't look a piggy in the eye and explain why I was going to eat him. He would say why can't you eat the dog instead? Makes no sense.. it's an emotional issue, for some. Maybe those of us who grew up on Charlotte's Web and can't kill a spider either.

[yuiyoshida]

30. Well the thing is the Pork is not all

chopped up and in neat little packages. This is how they cooked it. Seeing food on a big spit doesn't bother me, cause I know its going to be eaten, and not likely wasted. If it was wasted, I too would have an issue with it. Some people hunt for venison, and skin their own meat. Not something I would want to witness, but a deer is too big to be put on a spit.

I am part Native Hawaiian, and I am pretty sure that when they did a Luau, there was some kind of ceremony involved with thanking the pig for feeding so many people. This was often done by native Americans.. or so I remember reading about, in my history books...and from friends who are actually native Americans.

[braddy]

59. Europeans brought pigs to the Americas and Native Americans loved them enough to fight

for the meat.

My club occasionally does an Hawaiian pig roast in a pit, with rocks brought from Hawaii by an Hawaiian member, it is awesome when prepared that way, and disappears quickly.

[Eleanors38]

93. I note the heat is reflected; i.e., not directly over coals...

This allows drippings to accumulate in a pan for whatever use one wants them for. Good idea.

In Florida, we dug a bit, filled with embers, and rolled the pig rather constantly, depending on our collective consciousness. Absolutely superb! Cooking a pig this way, and in the manner shown, almost guarantees that the whole pig will be eaten, save the squeal.

[Mojorabbit]

52. I am 60 and have attended

"pig picking" parties where the pig was roasted like this since childhood. Not new at all.

[HERVEPA]

76. OK. I give up. Why is eating a pig more tolerable than a dog or cat?

[GoneOffShore]

81. Because pig tastes better. Most likely.

[HERVEPA]

96. I don't think that's it for most people. Probably the idea of eating what could be a pet, ...

and not getting there's no reason a pig couldn't be a pet.

[Hortensis]

5. Agree, it was unpleasant. Give me animals already butchered

and wrapped in plastic in a meat case any day. No doubt the meat cases themselves are avoided as much as possible by most of the 0.5% of Americans who report being vegan.

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. Bah!

Looks yummy.

[yeoman6987]

51. In Hawaii and the Philippines I have eaten with them and they have pork like that

I am sure the pig is dead when they begin the cooking. Although I never started the process.

[A HERETIC I AM]

61. LOL! Of course the pig is dead, silly Person!

The Cuban way of doing the whole hog is to bury it.

Dig a pit, start a big fire in it and wait for it to be coals. Lay banana leaves down then the pig, more banana leaves them cover it with dirt. Come back 6 or 8 hours later and voilà!

[yeoman6987]

62. Lol. Reading my post again gave me a laugh.

[A HERETIC I AM]

64. Reminds me of the old Monty Python bit;

"Mornin' Mrs Nesbitt. What have you been doing?"

"Well, I just spent 4 hours burying the cat"

"FOUR HOURS TO BURY THE CAT?!?"

"Yes. It wouldn't hold still "


Ba dum, TISH

[1939]

23. Pigs as pets

[Voice for Peace]

34. aww

I felt the same way about our chickens. I'm ok with eggs but haven't the heart to eat critters with eyes (except potatos)

&feature=player_detailpage&list=PLUVAasvJiQspVFyqj0AlVfEIRyC6Q29N_

[TransitJohn]

65. Good fucking Christ, really?

DU needs to be your "safe space"?

[Voice for Peace]

116. Dear random GoodfuckingPoster of Gratuitous Insults

I don't know if this is pointless, if you enjoy making a post like
that one -- not very original, unnecessary, adds nothing, potentially
does harm to another, it seem that's your intention, and you are
ok with such a little mean girl shit post because you want me to
feel at ease here on DU?

Maybe I'm being unfair, & your words conceal a higher purpose
than simply to wound another, demean, or increase your post #s.
Maybe it is a gaseous condition, an illness caused by inability
to access your conscience?

Or possibly your organic CPU was hacked by a sadistic egomaniac?

I didn't sign up here to stand beneath the windows of anyone's
vomitorium; but it's not hard to discern the quality and the
intention of your contribution. Why the goodfuckingchrist
did you even bother? What for? What benefits?

also this just in:
Goodfuckingjesus has been exceptionally busy sorting out karmic
debts investigations & misunderstandings, on top of salvation
obligations, and hasn't yet had the time to read your post or to
goodfuckinganswer your question.
But keep in mind that some answers from GFJC will come only
as a feeling, sans words, sans concepts.
Often subtle, and easy to ignore. So best of luck.. be alert!
look sharp!! Guard your humanity, your beautiful Imagination,
use them well, and wisely, for the good of humankind, not for
gratuitious insults of people you don't even know, nor for any
other unkind purpose.
It is my humble request to you, o great & noble Denigrator.

[lame54]

66. Warning: what you are about to see may be considered delicious

[Voice for Peace]

115. at least you don't presume I am lacking my happy safe place.

I know bacon is delicious. But more delicious, to me is a
living, sentient critter who looks me in the eye, with trust
no less, not expecting I will slice & dice him. Couldn't justify
killing a friend for food, certainly not if I had other options.
Eating them wouldn't work well for any of us, esp the feral cats.

Since I'm not starving or even close and there are other options,
it seems nonsensical to put myself or the pig through such
an ordeal, just so poor hungry me can eat some bacon. It's
not a tough choice, but I know for many it's no contest, the bacon wins.

Therefore I stand in solidarity with the Badtasting New Mexican
and Californian Pigs for Bernie Sanders or Bust.

Bacon or bust, no. Bacon vss Bernie, no. Bacon
vs newspaper pancakes... harder, maybe. ok probably,
unless I had to kill the pig myself. and esp if we had
already become friends.

Didn't someone read you Charlotte's Web when you were
little? Pigs aren't bacon! Pigs are some!
Pigs are radiant!, terrific!, humble! and
full of love. What is most delicious to me is alive. Life itself,
that exquisite energy, and all it animates.

[GulfCoast66]

69. Sorry

But it is food. And a very common type where I am from. Asking people here to warn people about a big part of their food culture would seem insensitive. Do you need a warning for a roasting hen or a grilled whole fish?

I do not like to see people offended, but if we have to warn about everything that may offend the world will be covered with labels.

[Voice for Peace]

117. it's common here on DU for people to be thoughtful and respect others.

If it were in the Delicious Meat forum, of course an oversensitive
animal lover would be unlikely to read it. But in the GD with no
clue in the OP title -- some people here, I know, have been
traumatized by cruelty, It might be any kind of cruelty, but much has
been specifically cruelty treatment of animals in the meat system.

A slight increase in thoughtfulness changes us, and the world.
the world. Decent manners are good, too. But there are some who
enjoy disturbing others. A little thoughtfulness harms or shocks
nobody, and prevents lots of other bother.

[GulfCoast66]

118. I do not try to offend

And try not to where possible. And I would not post unlabeled, say, a rape or murder scene.

But trama at seeing a whole hog, chicken, fish or duck stikes me as a first world problem. In many places in the world or in past human history no one would object to them. Certainly if your children are starving.

[Voice for Peace]

122. yes but you know, suffering does not qualify itself by the number of its nation.

people suffer. cruelty is cruelty, trauma affects people impartially.

A friend of mine and his little sister, right here in modern America,
white and even upper middle class, 4 and 5 years old, were forced
to watch their stepfather hang their bunnies from the clothesline, by
their ears, torture, kill and then serve them for dinner. That's one
sort of first-world early childhood education. "Head Start" for the
future overly sensitive but purportedly entitled ones.

Billy likes to keep those pictures buried deep in his psyche where
he can't see them. He isn't alone with such a story, and none of us
know who's here on this website. A little thoughtful headsup about
the content of a post, a little foresight within reason, is not a hardship
for an OP, and certainly causes no harm.

Disability in the psyche isn't a 1st 2nd or 3rd world condition.
Pain hurts, sorrow hurts, doesn't matter for whom or where. We can't
prevent all harm to others but some we can prevent.

The past was way back then. It still is, but here we are: it is now,
not way back then, it's now; it's the way things are, now; America
as you most likely know isn't doing so well with its first-worldiness.

[PJMcK]

84. Respectfully, it is food (n/t)

[melman]

103. Says you

For me and many others it's not.

[Voice for Peace]

119. all of us are food for something or someone eventually.

Might as well kill and eat each other. Human meat is
purported to be lipsmackingly delicious.

[Codeine]

97. Oh good grief.

I've been a vegan for 27 years and even I'm not that Pretend-Delicate.

[Ace Rothstein]

107. Trigger Warning

Please report immediately to your safe space.

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Not a new thing at all-- pig roasts go back millenia...

and have been big here for hundreds of years. It's almost the Puerto Rican and Cuban national dish and Southern pig roasts are maybe as as big as barbecue.

You just don't see it much in cities. Or even many of our suburbs-- it's a really big party and you need space.

[yuiyoshida]

6. space is right, they had about

20 people in our back yard...it was quite a party lasting nearly all day. Just today they cleaned up, thank goodness, the back yard was a mess with bottles every where...beer cans, but the guys upstairs brought in their own cleaning crew and cleaned it up. I glad too, cause it as a pretty big mess. They even scrubbed out the barbecue box.

[TreasonousBastard]

14. Yeah, it is a messy thing to do. Another reason why...

you don't see it in too many neighborhoods.

BTW, it's entirely your business if you don't eat pork, but if you did eat pork, you would find a properly roasted pig to be about the best pork you've ever had. It's almost worth the mess.

[yuiyoshida]

18. Well I am part Hawaiian Native

and I suppose if I went to a Hawaiian luau, it would be expected of me to partake. Maybe that's why my Parents moved to the states, to get away those kind of obligations.

[Hekate]

112. "The states"?! That's haole talk, that is. Hawai'i is The Islands, and the rest is the Mainland.

Plus, any luau at all has an abundance of dishes from all parts of the Pacific and the parts of Asia that border the Pacific. No one has to go near the delicious kalua pig if they don't want to. Chicken, chicken long rice, lomi salmon, butterfish, poi, steamed taro chunks, haupia, poki, opihi, mahimahi... The list is as long as your arm.

You should really ask your parents why they left. I doubt luaus played a part in their minds, as those are enormous and expensive occasions, hence not that frequent. Many of my classmates moved away -- a lot of the boys went into military service (Vietnam era) and some made that their career, a lot of couples sought better economic opportunity on the Mainland. The Islands are beautiful, but small.

[yuiyoshida]

125. I have asked them many times

They won't talk about it, nor much about my grandfather (100% native Hawaiian) so something went on they don't want to talk about, and I have learned not to push them on the subject. Some kinda drama, and so yeah, you are right... the Mainland is correct .. its all so stupid, ...son na baka na!!

[1939]

20. It is called a "Pig Pickin" NT

[BooScout]

7. A friend of mine does this every year...

He hosts a big party at his cabin at the lake each summer and always does a whole roast pig. The guys stay up all night basting and spinning the spit....and drinking a lot of beer. I personally don't think it's worth all the hassle....but it definitely feeds a crowd.

[yuiyoshida]

13. The guys were there early in the morning

setting it all up, at 8 am and were out there for hours prepping. The Grill was just about next to where my window was.

[My Good Babushka]

8. I remember going to pig roasts thirty years ago

so it's not new. It usually means a pretty big picnic because a whole pig feeds a lot of people.

[yuiyoshida]

10. Seems my neighbors

had plenty of left overs, even with 20 to 25 people, they still had plenty left. (They were right outside my window, so I could hear most of what they talked about.) Someone brought out desserts and everyone basically refused... too much, pork I would guess!

[noamnety]

11. I went to a couple 40 years ago as a child (and was horrified)

and heard nothing more about them, until oddly last week I was invited to one. So maybe they are coming back in style again.

[yuiyoshida]

15. Its funny in Hawaii

they dig a pit and roast a Pig for the hawaiian luau. I am part native and have heard about this in Hawaii a lot but, never expected to see it, in the back yard of a San Francisco residential area in the city.

[Downwinder]

12. cochinillo asado

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobrino_de_Bot%C3%ADn

[yuiyoshida]

35. Wow, that was interesting

thanks for that.

[marble falls]

16. Pitting a pig is a great way to roast, also. An Iowan tradition in the fall.

[jmowreader]

17. That brings back some memories, Yui...

To thank the troops for all their hard work beating the shit out of the Iraqi Army in the Gulf War, either US Army Europe or Department of the Army (I forget, but that's okay - the funding source is not crucial to this story) gave every unit $20 per person to spend on a massive Fourth of July blowout. They stuck me in charge of setting up a huge, 12-hour-long so our day shift - we ran 24/7 operations - could eat when they got off work, cookout for 900 people. Short summary: it was great, everyone loved it, and we actually came in under budget.

One of the people on the party committee was from Hawaii and decided our cookout would not be complete without a couple of roasted pigs. "Yeah...if you can find someone in Berlin that'll sell us whole pigs, go for it." He and two Californians got two pigs and stayed up all night before the party cooking and drinking a case of beer apiece. The pigs finished the night in great shape. Our operators were a different story.

[pinboy3niner]

22. When I lived with a Hawaiian roommate many years ago he called it 'Luau Pig'

He taught me a smaller, oven version using a pork butt. Very simple: Make a bunch of deep slits on both sides of the meat, put some rock salt in the slits and then slather the slits and the outside of the meat with liquid hickory smoke (I prefer Mrs. Wright's). Then double-wrap in heavy foil and cook in a slow oven until the meat is cooked through and so tender it falls off the bone.

[jmowreader]

29. I'll have to try that one

Most of the pork I eat is carnitas...they're just the right size for one meal, and cheap as hell. And lately I've just been dousing one in a mixture of fish sauce, sesame oil and Tabasco with three or four randomly-chosen spices and baking it until it's done.

[yuiyoshida]

28. As I said, my family is part Native Hawaiian

my grand father (full Native 100%) used to arrange for a pig to be brought in and used in their beach Luau and they would have a ton of food. This was all before I was born, so my dad told me stories about this. I guess he wasn't too happy with living there since he and my mom moved to San Francisco. I tried to call them on Memorial day but they went out for dinner. I guess tomorrow I will give him a call and tell him what happened in my back yard. Not that it was a luau ...but it was a pretty big party. I didn't go but I sure could hear it. My window faces the yard, and the grill was right there.

[Elmergantry]

19. Looks Yummy!

I help out an org than roasts about 6-7 lambs and a couple pigs several times a summer. I am the "understudy" learning from the "old timers"....love doing it.

[ileus]

21. Years and years this has been going on.

[Warpy]

86. Yes, and across all cultures that eat pork

I knew people back in Mass. who had an annual pig roast in the back yard, the whole pig, everybody who eats meat come on down.

There is nothing new about this. The only reason people are grossed out is that it's the whole animal minus the guts instead of just pieces in cling wrap or in a can.

[Voice for Peace]

24. thank you

[Quackers]

26. The tradition I'm familiar with is

When they bury the pig underground with hot embers and let it cook for a full day. They've even done it at our local fairgrounds and sold it to the public to help raise money for something.

[Amimnoch]

27. In Louisiana it's been part of Acadian (Cajun) culture for centuries.

Called a Boucherie (I probably slaughtered the spelling).

Used to be an event that an entire community would gather for.

[jmowreader]

31. In NC it's called a pig picking

Same thing as a Boucherie, just in English and with more vinegar.

[yuiyoshida]

32. I knew about it in Hawaii

cause its a native cultural thing, but its gotta be the first time I have seen it in the city of San Francisco. I have only been to Clam bakes, as a kid... I never really liked pork to begin with, but its not something I have experienced in the city before, especially in a Residential district.

[GulfCoast66]

71. Originally from LA

A true boucherie(you got it right) is not just roasting. It involves killing, butchering, parceling out every part of the pig, alcohol and cooking the entire pig. All parts.

I have been to one and it was one of the best days of my life. It takes lots of people who know what to do with primal cuts and offal. With the whole nose to tail thing they'll be gaining popularity. Anthony Bourdain showed one on his show. Best hour of TV ever made and made me proud of my home state.

And if this photo bothers you, by all means avoid a boucherie!

[Amimnoch]

83. Very true! One thing us Cajuns know how to do is make use of every single part of anything

we cook.

Organs, even the intestines and stomach are put to use!

For the others here, the intestines are used as a casing for Boudin (an extremely great Cajun sausage- or the closest explanation I can think of). The stomach is used for a spicy type of.. well, I guess meatloaf is the closest thing to explaining it.. where the meatloaf is stuffed into the pigs stomach and baked, called a chaudin (pronounced sho-dan, but with a silent "n&quot .

I didn't know Bourdain did an episode one one.. I'll definitely have to look it up.. I love his show.

[GulfCoast66]

87. We always

Called chaudin Ponce!

We eat it all except Chitterlings! Draw the line there

And many men cook which in unusual even in North Louisiana.

Make sure you find that Bourdain show. He states, correctly I believe, than the only original food in the US came about in Louisiana. Native American food excepted although our food has quite a bit naive elements in it such as file.

[Warren DeMontague]

33. Those cute litte tree creatures invited me to their "long pig feast"!

[yuiyoshida]

36. Rubb Rubb!!!

[gollygee]

37. I have been to pig roasts however I have never personally roasted a pig n/t

[jberryhill]

38. Very old trend

Needs a keg of beer, though.

And a lot of people.

[Marrah_G]

39. I've known people to have pig roasts for decades

Usually a summer BBQ thing.

[yuiyoshida]

42. I have never seen or heard of one

within the city of San Francisco, at least that I know of...maybe this is regional thing?

[Marrah_G]

43. Maybe not totally regional, but perhaps cultural

The people I know who do it are part of the biker culture or part of a more rural culture.

[X_Digger]

101. A Vietnamese friend does it, too.

Most of the time he does it himself, but there's also a Chinese restaurant that he sometimes buys from if he doesn't want the fuss.

[Prism]

94. I wouldn't do it in San Francisco

A friend and I have been batting around this idea for the past few summers. He really wants to have a pig roast, and he has the backyard for it, but then we start thinking about who we would invite. In the Bay Area, vegetarianism and veganism are common enough where we'd have to start getting picky about the invitation list. It just seems like more trouble than it would be worth.

But back home in the Midwest, no one seems to mind.

[Luminous Animal]

95. A friend of mine lives in SF. He has his own smoked meat and bbq business and hosts

a large 4th of July party. He has a huge smoker, lots of grills, and a deep frier. He's also bartender at several bars and a lovable asshole with tons of friends. Everyone is invited and at least a 100 show up and a good time is had by all… vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters. The vegans and vegetarians who would have trouble participating don't show up.

[Prism]

99. Yeah, BBQs are ok.

I had one a few weeks ago with burgers and brats, but also homemade black bean patties and other options for vegans and vegetarians.

It's the actual pig that gives me pause about it. I feel like it would freak some of them out.

[GulfCoast66]

102. Sounds fun, but...

Where I am from that would be a cookout or grillout. Not critiquing or anything, just have always found regional vocabulary differences interesting. BBQ down here is an all day or night affair.

I remember the first time I talk to a midwesterner about barbecue. He stated he was making barbecue for supper that night. Since we were both at work I was confused. I asked him who was cooking it. He told me the crockpot! He had put a pork roast in the crock pot with barbecue sauce and it had been cooking all day? I am sure it was delicious. Ironically I married a lady from that same Midwestern State. Rest assured she now knows real barbecue😄

[beachbum bob]

40. pig roasts been around as long as people have been hungry

went to a wedding reception last year and they were doing 2 pigs.....the kids were fascinated. And the pork was exceptional

[bigwillq]

41. Hardly a new trend. My Mom's stepfather used to host a pig roast

Last edited Tue May 31, 2016, 10:38 AM - Edit history (1)

Every year dating back to the 70s. Always a good time. Pig is yummy.

[S_B_Jackson]

44. In the south this is very common...

in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas - BBQ is all about the pig. My buddy, a Georgia-native do this every year for 25 years or so. he just builds an above ground pit by using cinder blocks stacked 3 high and covering with a banana leaves and a tarp. Takes about 8 hours once the pig goes on till it's time to dig in.

Personally, I prefer beef but grilled pork is a nice change from time to time...fried turkey is still a "thing" and it's not dangerous at all as long as one does not do so in one's garage or under the eaves of one's house.

Frankly, I'd much prefer my children not assume that meat comes in nice wrapped packages at the grocery store already broken down into butchered parts that aren't recognizable as having come from an animal. I remember when a local burger chain used to have sides of beef hanging in a windowed meat locker that you could see at the counter. Each restaurant employed a butcher to break down the carcasses and to cut the steaks that they served and to grind the beef with which they made their burgers - - - you knew the meat was fresh and it was interesting and educational to watch them go about the work.

[NV Whino]

45. Did it, but it was a covered pit in the ground and roasted overnight.

A friend and I celebrated our 40th with lots of friends and roasted pig. There's still a head buried somewhere in my garden. Someday someone is going to come along and plow up that field and wonder what sort of barbarians lived here.

On edit:
Field, field, damn it. We don't plow up friends.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

46. That's how my uncle always roasted a pig, in the ground. Then he'd chop it up into the best...

...North Carolina BBQ I've ever put in my mouth. Those days are over though as he passed away a few years ago.

[NV Whino]

47. We didn't BBQ, but it was darned good pig.

[panader0]

58. This is how my friend did it:

He had a backhoe dig the pit about 6 feet deep. Then in went about a half cord of mesquite. Let the fire burn down
to coals while seasoning and wrapping the pig in layers of heavy foil. The pig was then tied with wire to a long
piece of heavy rebar and suspended over the coals. then a few sheets of corrugated steel. Cover with a foot of dirt
from the hole. Drink massive amounts of beer. Pull it out the next day, carry it to the outdoor table and open
the foil. Very tasty.

[NV Whino]

63. We only went three feet

My friend and I did it by hand. Oy, where are all the guys when you need them?

[cherokeeprogressive]

74. That's how I did it too. Big overnight party on Friday night, and The Fellas sat around the pit all

night taking turns rotating the spit.

Just as good as that was a couple bushels of oysters roasted over hot coals. Hole in the ground with a fire, making a huge mound of hot coals then placing a piece of corrugated tin over it supported by a steel frame. We put the oysters on top of the tin and covered them with a burlap sack a couple dozen at a time, and kept the sack wet. When they popped open they were done, and swept into a bucket.

Yum.

[yuiyoshida]

132. Have you ever seen this down in SoCal or LA??

Wondering if this is also a California thing?

[cherokeeprogressive]

138. I've only ever done the pig thing in the southeast, but I've been to seafood bakes in NorCal.

I think once in Morro Bay, and one way up by Eureka. The kind where they bury the hot coals, cover them with seaweed, and put the food on top of that.

EDIT: Last summer there was a bar up here that roasted a whole pig on its patio and the ski resorts now that they're owned by the Mammoth people advertise a whole pig every day during the winter but I'm not a skier so I haven't been to see it for myself.

[yuiyoshida]

139. I see...naruhodo

Thanks!! Arigatou!

[brooklynite]

48. Ib

I thought we were supposed to respect the culture of native people invaded by white colonialists.

Roast pork (especially whole pigs) are extremely popular in Asia and the pacific islands. Doesn't bother me.

[GOLGO 13]

49. It bothers me that I could not get some of it to eat.

[dembotoz]

50. lesson learned years ago....potential disaster if the weather does not cooperate

if it is a windy rainy day. the whole damn thing gets cooked whether there are folks to eat it or not

condo association ran one like 30 years ago....back when they did social things......do not remember if they had enuf pre ticket sales to cover expenses....

i do know that all who lasted til the end--like my parents....came home with enuf pork to last a week.

[aikoaiko]

53. There is a case to be made that what you saw is the original and perhaps only tr backyard bbq.

Where I live BBQ is whole pig cooked slow and low.

Cooking the whole pig doesn't happen much because it is a lot of meet, but when you chop up and mix the good, the bad, and the ugly parts you have a divine outcome

[ripcord]

54. If it is a big party

You have to go whole hog.

[tavernier]

55. Seriously? You never have?

I've lived all over the country and I've seen pig roasts from sea to shining sea. Face it, the majority of the human race are meat eaters. I think the emphasis should rather be on whether the animal is treated well when alive, and does not suffer when being killed for food. I think most farmers and hunters are of the same opinion.

[Hekate]

113. +1

[Amishman]

56. very popular in my area, and has been my whole life

Then again I am in a very rural area, so it very well could be a country thing.

crispy pig skin from the roast is delicious

[MillennialDem]

57. Never done it - I almost never eat pork, though. Don't get the fascination my partner has with

bacon for example.

[gollygee]

60. I don't really like pork either.

And I also don't like bacon. I don't get it.

[KamaAina]

67. Would have done it back in college

but "P-Day" also included mucha cerveza, and thanks to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, I was underage.

[Javaman]

68. Mmmmmm Roast Pork!

don't slam it until you had it.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

70. roasting a whole pig has been part of american culture for a long time

it's def not new

[Philly-Union-Man]

72. No. Pig roasts have been around forever.

Done correctly, going whole hog is a beautiful thing,

[MynameisBlarney]

78. We haven't done it quite like that

but very similar.
In the Carolina's, they'd call this a "pig pickin'" .
In South Florida, they call it a bbq.

My brother has it down to a science now.

[ShrimpPoboy]

79. We call it a Couchon de Lait down here

Very popular at festivals, family gatherings, and tail gate parties. I've been to my share and helped an uncle cook one a few years back. Good stuff but I can understand why it's offensive to some people. We're used to our food not looking like the animal so we don't have to consider it's plight. But this is right there in your face.

Edit: someone else posted that this is a Boucherie. My understanding was that a Boucherie was when the pig was prepared by a group and then cooked different ways whereas a couchon is cooking it whole over a fire. I'm hardly an expert though.

[phleshdef]

80. I went to one but I didn't look at the pig.

[PJMcK]

82. Looks yummy

A roasted pig is fantastic and quite healthy. Needless to say, Vegans won't go near it which is fine; that's their choice and it means there's more for me.

When my son was in Scouting, I was a Cubmaster and Scoutleader and each spring we'd have a family campout and roast a pig. It was always fun to go to Western Beef to buy the meat and see the stares of onlookers as we paid for it. The animals are big and awkward and fastening it to the spit is very tricky because the pig tends to spin on the spit thus defeating the rotation needed for cooking.

It usually took 5 or 6 hours to cook. One of the other fathers was a butcher and he'd slice it up and nearly everyone would have some.

WARNING: WHAT FOLLOWS MAY BE CONSIDERED GROSS!

Each year, two or three of the older boys would put the pig's head on a stake by the campfire which would elicit as many groans as cheers. You know, boys will be boys. Interestingly, I recently ran into a former Scout who is now a vegetarian. He remembered the roasted pig and said it was a great memory.

Thanks for posting the picture, yulyoshida.

[yuiyoshida]

135. Some people were offended by the image but

How else could I illustrate what was going on in my back yard? I am a CITY GIRL!! I have never seen this before. Yes I know it goes on in Hawaii...and I didn't know it was so popular... but I guess I needed a WARNING on my posting, cause its basically an Animal being ready for consumption. It does not bother me because I know what we eat, some of us, was once alive.

I prefer fish, poultry..and don't eat beef, pork or Lamb.

[thereismore]

85. I think it's a new old thing. People have been eating animals since forever. nt

[yuiyoshida]

133. I can't image a

Woolly mammoth ROAST in LOS ANGELES...guess it must have happened once, ne??

[Sissyk]

89. We do it at least once a year, the whole pig on a huge motor-driven

Cooker.

No different than what takes place in any bar-b-que joint in the US.

Sometimes we will do a quarter on the smaller smoker, at least 10 times a year.

All meat comes from the butcher down the road.

[Eleanors38]

90. That is so-o-o-o vulgar. Gotta have it.

[Ellipsis]

91. Spanferkel baby.

[Prism]

92. Once a summer, happily traumatizing small children

My brother does this every summer. I usually fly in to visit, because it's kind of a mini family reunion for us. Generally there will be 40-50 people in attendance.

Every time, we wake up at dawn to head over to the butcher shop to pick up the pig, lay it out in his garage, and prep it for the roaster.

Well, one year the pig was just too big for the roaster. No matter what we did, we couldn't make it fit. After a lot of huffing and puffing, we said screw it.

Grabbed a meat cleaver and started hacking the head off.

And then we saw my then five year old niece staring saucer-eyed from the house.

So, whoops there.

[JEB]

98. Not new.

[X_Digger]

100. Two cultures I'm either part of or close friends with do up pig roasts..

Appalachians will dig a pit, fill it with hickory wood, set it ablaze, and put a pig over it. The asshole cousin that nobody likes gets to turn the crank for the longest shift.

My friend is Vietnamese, and last year I helped him line a pit with charcoal and wood, then three suckling piglets wrapped in some kind of palm leaves, then a layer of charcoal and a layer of burlap, then sheet metal, then gravel.

[postatomic]

104. I tried cooking a Pig in the microwave

This seems to be a better way. The damn pig just wouldn't fit in the microwave.

You should see the BBQ pits our ancestors used to roast a T-Rex. Oh, and best Dinosaur I've ever had.

[yuiyoshida]

108. You win the thread

[LenaBaby61]

105. HAPPY to be a...

PROUD vegetarian the past 21 years.

But hey, if they want to they CAN and WILL.

[liberal N proud]

106. Another method is to dig a pit and get a good fire going

Then bury the hot coals with a who hog.

Dig it up 8 hours later and enjoy!

[Liberal_in_LA]

109. Ugh

[Hekate]

110. Needs to be wrapped in ti leaves & wet burlap and buried in an imu filled with white hot lava rocks

After many hours you pull it out along with all the hot side dishes like laulau -- eat'em wit' poi, lomilomi salmon, haupia, chicken longrice...

Oh my gods I miss my old friend Opihimoimoi.

Come, we go have sashimi, den beer. It's all good.

Your photo looks more like the pig cooked by the Puerto Rican family that lived next door to my family in So Cal in the mid-1950s. They made a feast for their entire extended family, and made sure to send a plate of meat over for us too.

Yuioshida, this is a very, very, very old "trend" indeed.

[yuiyoshida]

130. It would seem so but

I never knew it was so popular, and never seen it here in the city...but I shouldn't be too surprised, as you can find almost everything in San Francisco!!

[romanic]

111. As others have, this is an old time tradition.

On my father's side of the family (Puerto Rican) we'd roast whole pigs in the summer over an open flame. We'd eat everything, from the meat down to the roasted fat and feet. Some of my family would keep the pork blood and intestines to make morcillas (fried sausages) for another occasion.

[quaker bill]

114. don't usually have parties that large

so normally it is just the ribs or a shoulder.

[Greybnk48]

120. It's called a Sparnfarkle in Wisconsin!

[yuiyoshida]

134. Thanks for that ....

was interesting. (I do prefer Sushi...not the spam kind)

[Glassunion]

121. This is not a new thing at all...

Folks have been roasting whole pigs for eons.

Very popular in southern states as well as some Caribbean Islands, and Hawaii.

For the past 22(ish) years, we have been doing them at work when we feed the folks who setup an event we do. And it is cooked in the same manner.

Growing up in Georgia (about 30 years ago), I had a neighbor (Creole) who'd throw a party or two each year, and he'd roast either a whole or a half pig. Sometimes he'd do them in a rotisserie style, and other times he'd dig a big as hole in the ground and cook it under ground in a more Hawaiian style.

Also... Fried turkey is still a "thing".

[shanti]

123. i've not been invited to a whole roast pig picking before

but would gladly do so, as i love pork! maybe someday...

[yuiyoshida]

136. I was not invited but it was

practically in front of my back window to my place. I had windows closed, but the smoke was thick and I am sure I would have had a room full of smoke, had they been open. Talk about, in your face!!

But even if they had asked, I would have declined. My main source of nourishment comes from fresh seafood or poultry. I don't bite Cows, Pigs or Lambs.

[dmr]

126. This was a regular thing when I lived in Miami

I remember how flabergasted this Michigan girl was at the first roast I attended.

Oh, the food ..... mmmmmm, delicious.

Edit: just wanted to add that for the roasting, they (Miami Cubans) dig a big hole in the ground & lay special leaves and who knows what to add a wonderful flavor. Yummy!

[Nac Mac Feegle]

127. It's a 'rural' thing, very old

Pigs are fairly low-maintenance to raise in an agricultural setting. Being omnivores and scavengers, they will clean up a lot of otherwise wasted items. They reproduce quite well, and are somewhat trainable, and can protect themselves to some extent. They have been bred for thousands of years to pretty much be eating machines, with some breeds that can get fairly large. This results in a fairly easy to access very nutrient dense source of protein.

I understand the vegetarian point of view, but notice that it is predominantly a urban phenomenon, outside of philosophical reasons. Many urbanites have forgotten that meat does not come in a small styrofoam tray wrapped in plastic; there is an animal involved. The change from mobile converter of plant matter and other assorted things to that plastic wrapped tray is messy. There is blood involved. And intestines, organs, and assorted wobbly bits.

As our culture has become urbanized, many people have forgotten that the world is not a neat, clean, shrink-wrapped, and conveniently bottled place, in reality.

Preparing food for a large event requires a lot of work, and being able to convert an animal such as a hog into a large amount of food by roasting it is actually a fairly efficient method of production. Various cultures each have their traditional methods of doing this, as have been mentioned previously. What was witnessed was the urban appearance of a rural cooking method that has a very long tradition.

Cultures value their traditions, especially in celebratory circumstances. Food is one of the most dearly held of those traditions. The 18th century French lawyer and politician Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin once said "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.", illustrating how distinctive those food traditions can be.

[DonCoquixote]

128. add to this

I happen to love Tofu, properly done, it is a god complement to cheese and veggies. Now, for all the urban vegan types, how many of them know how to MAKE TOFU.

Now I do not mean open a can

http://www.amys.com/about-us/our-kitchen/ever-wonder-how-tofu-is-made

Hmm, oddly enough it is a lot like cheese.

The point is that a lot fo the vegans love to pontificate, but if they were placed in India or China, where most of ther vegan recipes are (culturally stoleN0 er learned from, they would be clueless, and therefore have no right to attack people who at least have an idea of where there food is and how to get it.

[Islandurp]

129. Ever been to a luau?

[yuiyoshida]

131. Amazingly the answer is no.

I have never been to Hawaii...grew and lived in San Francisco all my life. My parents are from Hawaii and are part Native Hawaiian and Japanese. I tend to look more Japanese and only my skin is a little darker, which I attribute to my native blood.. but Someday I hope to visit Hawaii and meet my family there..cousins ,uncles, aunts, etc. But..It might be a while...its so expensive to travel anywhere these days!