When I was an Au Pair my host family in Pennsylvania once told me we were going to a pig roast in the neighborhood. I pictured something similar to a Czech pig slaughter. What I saw in that neighborhood, though was more like a rotisserie piglet.
Czech pig slaughter means a hundred-kilogram pig being worked on all day. It is called “zabíjačka” and it’s a family festivity. Although not as common as it used be, it remains a part of village folklore, especially during weddings. In the past, pig slaughter was a necessity, a time to feed the family and preserve meat for the upcoming months. That is no longer the case. Also, there are European Union laws in place now that prohibit public pig slaughter.
The pig slaughter philosophy
I can safely say that I grew up on pork. In fact, I have referred to myself as a “pork girl” before. The Czech national dish, after all, is pork roast with sauerkraut and dumplings. It is not that we don’t make other meats or meatless dishes but pork might be the most popular. With that said, we don’t just make cutlets and chops. We use every part of the meat.
In one episode of the Chef’s Table on Netlix, the Italian Chef Dario Cecchini hit the nail on the head when he said that he would feel like abusing the animal if he killed it just for the meat. If he goes to kill an animal he would use all of it. And that is essentially what I have witnessed growing up. We use everything from snout to tail. The philosophy is a little different. It is not necessarily that Czechs would use the entire animal in order not to dishonor it. It is more of a necessity to use all of it and not waste anything edible. After all, any part of an animal can be used for a delicious dish, not only a Czech dish. The Brazilian dish feijoada also contains all different parts of pork.
The 12-hour process
On my last trip to my home country, my dad had a surprise for me. He said: ”Since you love food so much, I’m gonna take you to a pig slaughter.” The thought of blood sausages and headcheese made me salivate! I have not been to a pig slaughter feast since I was little.
When we got to my dad’s friend Pavel’s yard in Lahošť at 9 a.m., the crew of about 10 people was already there. And so was a cage with a 300-kg pig. It took about 7 people to put him down. For the next 12 hours, the crew consisting of family members and neighbors worked on disassembling the pig and making different dishes. One of the people was actually a butcher by trade. His name was also Pavel and he was the lead of the crew, using his tools to take the animal apart, remove unusable pieces and use up everything else. It was a chilly December day which is essential so the meat can stay outside all day in a safe temperature.
All the kids were running around and watching the process. It might seem inappropriate for children to watch but most people living in villages and small towns introduce their children to how domestic animals are kept and what are they used for. I used to watch my grandfather kill rabbits for Sunday lunch. It never bothered me. He would explain to me that we keep animals to eat them. He wanted me to understand that it is a natural circle of life.
Pork goulash, headcheese and blood sausages
The women of the families involved in the festivities were serving hot beverages all day, from tea to rum coffee and grog. At lunch time, we couldn’t wait for some of the food to be ready to eat. The first thing to be done was “ovar,” which is a boiled part of the neck. It’s part lean and part fatty, served with fresh rye bread, mustard and horseradish. The broth is saved for blood soup. The blood is reserved and mixed frequently so it doesn’t coagulate.
My dad was in charge of making the goulash. He chopped the meat while his friends made fire under a huge pot. A lot of onion makes the base for goulash. He seasoned the meat chunks with spices, like marjoram. As the last thing to go in, he added the pig brain, which doesn’t cook long and thickens the dish. Needless to say it was delicious, as the youngest diners proved, dipping their faces in the bowls.
Next up, Pavel and his friends ground the meat and skin, mixed it with spices, and stuffed into headcheese bags. Then they boiled them until solid. Headcheese is a delicious meat product that is served cold, usually with bread, mustard, onions, vinegar and pickles.
Lean cuts of meat were the last thing to take care of. The hosts hung them above an old Trabant car and left overnight. The next morning, the mother of the family portioned all the meat and stuffed her freezer.
Feast, beer and guitars
My absolute favorite dish of the day were blood sausages, which I had to wait for all day. By 9 p.m., they would come out of the water. I was going to share one with my dad but I couldn’t. I devoured it before he snatched a bite. Luckily, we made about sixty of them. When they’re fresh and steamy they are best eaten on their own. The next day, we would serve them with boiled potatoes and sauerkraut. You can also take them out of the casings and bake in the oven until the top is crispy.
We ended the evening with plenty of Czech beer from a keg and a 3-men band playing guitars and singing Czech country songs. What a great day in the village! It was so worth shivering outside all day to enjoy the piping hot treats in the evening.