Ilonka Néni notices how much I enjoy the tender cheek meat and shares with me that it is her favorite too. We take a moment to munch on a cheek each, after salting them generously, of course.
Seared foie gras over mashed potato with pears
Porkolt with dumplings
Cucumber salad with sour cream
She even makes a few lewd and hilarious double entendre’s that the boy doesn’t seem to be old enough to understand.
The traditional breakfast at a pig slaughter is “hagymás sült vér,” which translates to “cooked blood with onions.” The women of the house cook fresh blood drained from the pig in salted water. This causes the blood to stiffen into solid lumps which are grated.
Blood sausage with mustard
The innards of three pigs are ground by hand. It’s a labor intensive task that takes 2~3 hours to complete.
A leg is removed and stored separately. This will be sliced into hams to cure and cook.
A loin and a belly remain to be separated.
Hungarian ice cream
A delicious soup and soft cheese dumpling near the Balaton
The first pig is halved and lain on the butchering table in the kitchen of the basement floor.
Balaton during the summer
Kemence lángos with fried pork cracklings and onion
Joci removes the heart from the chest cavity of the pig. His hands are covered in blood. I ask him what that feels like and he tells me it’s warm, sticky and clean.
Kemence lángos, the Hungarian pizza
Lecsó stew of meat with peppers and tomato
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
Suckling pig
The cleaned intestines await stuffing.
Old school ice cream place
A great restaurant right outside Budapest
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and sausage
A little tasting of Hungary´s best
Next, the tail is separated and the snow-white fat is torn as effortlessly as paper straight up through the stomach.
A wooden trough is lain over a couch in the makeshift kitchen on the ground floor of the house. It is filled with rice and the ground innards are added over the top.
Eventually there is no space left on the table. The third pig is placed in a vat on the floor.
They wash off the exterior of the small intestines with cold water and continue soaking them in a wooden trough filled with ice cold water.
All this gunk must come out before the intestines can be stuffed.
Comfort food – pumpkin stew with grilled wiener
Zsíros kenyér, bread smeared with lard, onions and paprika
The ladies also add smoked paprika powder, which is sprinkled over the top of the ground innards.
Hungarian puff pastry, pogácsa
Christmas fare
As I watch Joci jokes “It’s called the Colombian necktie, like in the movies.”
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and sausage
Csirke paprikás
A light stew with chicken liver dumplings
Toast with brain and paprika grilled onto it
Country sausage with mustard
A delicious appetizer at Kistucsok restaurant near the Balaton
A delicious soup and soft cheese dumpling near the Balaton
Reindeer steak
Tasting of pickles
Zsíros kenyér, bread smeared with lard, onions and paprika
The boiled organ meats are a great snack to munch on while grinding, which takes a total of 2 hours. As I pick at a liver, I am instructed to add salt before taking a bite.
The men and boys prep the three pigs for butchery. The pigs have each been killed with a quick stab to the throat. Their blood has been drained to use for making blood sausage.
Another popular breakfast item at pig slaughters is “velős rántotta,” scrambled eggs made with pig’s brains. It’s served with red cabbage cooked in vinegar with a dash of sugar.
The organs are boiled in a large cast iron cauldron over a wood fire in the yeard. They will be ground and stuffed into the small intestines to make sausage.
The pig head with its meat and a bit of skin hanging on like a mask is a shocking sight indeed.
This piece, for example, will make for beautiful szalonna.
On the yard outside the cast iron cauldron is still full of the water in which the innards were boiled. Rice is placed into a canvas bag that is dipped into the water by the two boys. They stand on opposite sides.
Lángos fried dough
Borzaska, pork cutlet breaded in shaved potatoes and fried
Refreshing cucumber salad
Brushing lángos with garlic oil
Meanwhile, the women untangle the small intestines. They will be cleaning these to use as casings for sausages.
The skin is ripped off and fed to the dogs. The meat and fat are removed and ground down with the offal. Pork cheek is probably one of my favorite pieces of meat on the animal. I eat an entire cheek, after salting it of course.
The intestines, kidneys, pancreas, spleen and stomach are removed into a wooden trough.
Lecsó stew of meat with peppers and tomato
After all the meat is removed the skull is given to the dogs to gnaw on. A fantastic Christmas present for the canines.
One of my favorite restaurants in the Danube Bend
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
Intestines go through a final clean in ice cold water.
As she tugs at the casing to make sure it is filled evenly, she chastises the boy for cranking too quickly.
Joci
Pickles in a market
The innards have been boiled. They breathe a bit before being ground to make filling for the sausage.
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
Minced onion and rice is sauteed with the grated blood and seasoned with black pepper and marjoram. The dish is served with bread or eaten as a pudding. It is thought to give the men energy for the slaughter.
Rabbit meat on barley
Zserbó cake
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and sausage
“Perzselés” is carried out all over the body of the animal. In addition to burning the skin, it causes the flesh to stiffen, making it easier to chop into.
Refreshing cucumber salad
The head takes a bit longer to boil.
Seared foie gras over potatoes
Sour cherry soup
When the sausage is done it is rolled up and twisted into links.
Joci picks out an organ to show me. “This is the vese.” It’s the kidney.
A new bagel spot with duck live paté
The ladies toil for close to 20 minutes over the trough, mixing the herbs, rice and innards into a homogenous filling.
