I remember my first pulled or chopped pork, Jay and I were visiting Duke University in Durham, North Carolina and he said we have to go out for barbecue. I was thinking smoked, glazed, boney - not necessarily my cup of tea. The specialty of the house was whole hog, slow cooked, and pulled or chopped heaven on a plate, with vinegar based sauces.
I don't know about you, but I don't have anyplace to roast a whole pig. And good pulled pork is hard to find here, there are a couple of out of the way places, but not a lot. And I do love the flavors. So a few times a year I will buy a pork shoulder or pork butt, boneless if I can. I mix a dry rub of salt, pepper, garlic and onion salts, a little brown sugar, season liberally with that, put it on a rack in a roasting pan, cover tightly, and put it in a slow oven 275-300 degrees fahrenheit, all day, the last one I did was 7.5 pounds (about 3 kilos) and it cooked for about 7 hours. It should be falling apart when it is done. Sometimes we buy sauce, sometimes I mix my own, a tomato base - either tomato paste or catsup, apple cider vinegar, dry mustard, honey, and spices to taste.
I have never cooked a pigs head, there is a specialty shop nearby that will supply them if you are brave enough to face your fears, I am not, are you?
Nope. I so did not need to see that first picture. I think I may have to give pork up....but bacon.... And No I would never cook a whole pig.
ReplyDeleteWaste nothing,
DeleteKen is from NC, so we know our bbq. He makes NC-style bbq in the slow cooker, and his favorite cut to use is the shoulder. It's a little leaner than the real whole-hog bbq you get in NC, but it's delicious. Sometimes he adds some fat. We have a collection of NC sauces brought back from the US over the years. They will run out eventually, so we'll have to make our own sauce. As for cooking the head, there's a saying in France: Tout est bon dans le cochon (everything on the pig is good)!
ReplyDeleteEverything but the squeal
DeleteI breezed rapidly by that photo! No, nope, no pigs heads for me.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what else I could slip past you all in photos
DeleteWow, I think I would really like to taste your pork.
ReplyDeleteTasty
DeleteNope, not me! But the pulled pork I'd enjoy. I do have a place close by that does a pretty good job.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of interesting food in your corner of the world
DeleteLove pork, but I am not cooking a pig's head.
ReplyDeleteFew like looking their food in the face
Deletenope nope nope! I bet your pulled pork recipe is delicious.
ReplyDeleteTry it, it is not hard to make
DeleteThe only place where I've seen a whole pig being roasted (in a pit in the ground) is at an Hawaiian luau.
ReplyDeleteBack to Hawaii someday
DeleteAin't no BBQ like Carolina Piedmont BBQ.
ReplyDeleteBetter than mine:(
Deletedear me that jumped out at me
ReplyDeleteI don't like to eat things that resemble its source.