An homage to pigs

After all the food fads, crazes, fashions, and just plain absurdities, it’s nice every now and then to consider those things that are always steady and true. And that’s why this article from the Guardian, Pigs: a very British obsession, is worthy of note.  Besides their very obvious culinary uses – it is now fashionable to boast of being able to cook every part of the pig from “nose to tail” or “everything but the oink” – pigs are efficient. They tend to eat everything (as people who keep them as pets find out) and, despite their reputation, keep themselves clean.

So we’ll take this opportunity to give our own tribute to the pig. As the Guardian writes:

“Finally, an irony of pig-loving, there’s something about a pig that allows us to bring him into the food chain. It’s as if the animal acquiesces in its fate, with stoic equanimity. Baring says, quoting Winston Churchill, one of many celebrity pig men: ‘The cat looks down at humans. The dog looks up. But the pig looks you in the eye.’ In the peculiar hierarchy of English life, the pig is our equal, the companion to the Common Man.”

A couple of other tributes:

George Clooney once said about Max, his pig pet of 18 years, “Pigs are really smart. And he was funny, and he made me laugh.” We believe the 18 year duration makes Max his longest lasting relationship, bar none.

And in a slightly different context, April Bloomfield labeled her first cookbook, A Girl and Her Pig: Recipes and Stories. As she wrote, “I adore pigs, and I love eating them and cooking them, and I love using the whole animal.” 

The next time we sit down to bacon or pork, we’ll send a little thank you.