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.
The intestines, kidneys, pancreas, spleen and stomach are removed into a wooden trough.
Refreshing cucumber salad
Toast with brain and paprika grilled onto it
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and sausage
A delicious appetizer at Kistucsok restaurant near the Balaton
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and sausage
Zsíros kenyér, bread smeared with lard, onions and paprika
A light stew with chicken liver dumplings
She even makes a few lewd and hilarious double entendre’s that the boy doesn’t seem to be old enough to understand.
The cleaned intestines await stuffing.
Reindeer steak
The ladies toil for close to 20 minutes over the trough, mixing the herbs, rice and innards into a homogenous filling.
Old school ice cream place
Refreshing cucumber salad
Borzaska, pork cutlet breaded in shaved potatoes and fried
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.
A delicious soup and soft cheese dumpling near the Balaton
Seared foie gras over potatoes
Brushing lángos with garlic oil
Next, the tail is separated and the snow-white fat is torn as effortlessly as paper straight up through the stomach.
The innards of three pigs are ground by hand. It’s a labor intensive task that takes 2~3 hours to complete.
Kemence lángos with fried pork cracklings and onion
Lecsó stew of meat with peppers and tomato
Eventually there is no space left on the table. The third pig is placed in a vat on the floor.
A little tasting of Hungary´s best
Cucumber salad with sour cream
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
Zsíros kenyér, bread smeared with lard, onions and paprika
Comfort food – pumpkin stew with grilled wiener
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.
Christmas fare
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.
Hungarian ice cream
A new bagel spot with duck live paté
Csirke paprikás
A great restaurant right outside Budapest
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.
“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.
Porkolt with dumplings
Tasting of pickles
The pig head with its meat and a bit of skin hanging on like a mask is a shocking sight indeed.
Zserbó cake
Meanwhile, the women untangle the small intestines. They will be cleaning these to use as casings for sausages.
One of my favorite restaurants in the Danube Bend
Lángos fried dough
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.
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
A loin and a belly remain to be separated.
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.
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 innards have been boiled. They breathe a bit before being ground to make filling for the sausage.
All this gunk must come out before the intestines can be stuffed.
Balaton during the summer
Halászlé, traditional fisherman´s soup
Kemence lángos, the Hungarian pizza
Joci
A delicious soup and soft cheese dumpling near the Balaton
Hungarian puff pastry, pogácsa
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.
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.
Suckling pig
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.
Lecsó stew of meat with peppers and tomato
Intestines go through a final clean in ice cold water.
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.
Seared foie gras over mashed potato with pears
Toltott káposzta. Sauerkraut with ground meat and sausage
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.
As she tugs at the casing to make sure it is filled evenly, she chastises the boy for cranking too quickly.
As I watch Joci jokes “It’s called the Colombian necktie, like in the movies.”
The ladies also add smoked paprika powder, which is sprinkled over the top of the ground innards.
This piece, for example, will make for beautiful szalonna.
The head takes a bit longer to boil.
Pickles in a market
After all the meat is removed the skull is given to the dogs to gnaw on. A fantastic Christmas present for the canines.
Blood sausage with mustard
The first pig is halved and lain on the butchering table in the kitchen of the basement floor.
Country sausage with mustard
Rabbit meat on barley
A leg is removed and stored separately. This will be sliced into hams to cure and cook.
