Whole Roast Pig Source?

[Keith Talent]

In one of the finest instances of instant karma ever, I go off on Hawaii and my kids take an interest in hula dancing the very next day. In fact, I think Mrs. Talent and I were sitting outside having a glass of wine discussing my anti-Maui bias when one of the mini-Talents came screaming outside, "wanna see me hula?" And then proceeded to perform a somewhat credible version of the dance. In the immortal words of Homer, DOH!

Anyway, their fourth birthday is in the medium term future, and they have decided they want a Hawaii themed party. Most likely becau it combines two of their greatest preschooler passions; Mermaids and giant toothy man eating sharks. An Arail (sp?) the mermaid fixation I get, Disney marketing clout and all that. Why sharks are a topic of constant discussion, I'll never understand.

Anyway for dinner I'd like a whole roast pig. I'd prefer to buy whole roast pig (piglet?) pre-roasted, as I'm almost certain my wife wouldn't allow me to excavate a barbecue pit in the grass, as much as that appeals to my sense of entertainment. (I'm also not allowed to make and age cheese in the spare room. Nor have I been given the greenlight to proceed with my homemade proscuitto project, because she claims it will make the whole house smell like pig. Well duh. That's a pleasnt side benefit to my way of thinking.)

A Filipino co-worker gave me ythe name of a place of Fraser, Fraser Barbecue and Fresh Meat, I'll go and check it out. Anyone else have any other suggestions?

[maxmillan]

For Chinese engagements, a whole roast pig can be ordered from a Chinese butcher. I don't know which one in particular but you can start there via yellow pages. This is the barbecue pork you see sold in strips at the buther. You may try to see if they can do a regular roast.

Hopefully, you won't need a translator.

Good luck.

[paul mitchell]

Keith:

There are certain times in a marriage that you've got to put your foot down - and I'm being completely hedgemonic here but if you don't yet (being the operative word) have a ridiculously expensive sports car that gets shitty gas mileage or an 85 foot Sunseeker Predator yacht that you bomb around English Bay in a completely irresponsible manner fueled by Grey Goose and repressed life lost or spend your weekends away from the kids cracking golf balls at Nickalus North picking the caddy that is 18, female and wearing those 'short' shorts I think your wife should let you roast a pig - go out there and build a pit Keith - I am sure you are a great father and husband and your intentions are for the family so go do it - I understand that it is a completely hedgemonic thing to do but I am sure your fellow BC egulleters - and hopefully some Albertan brothers - will be behind you - this is what family history is made of - when your children recount in a few years you toiling over a whole motherfucking pig in the backyard while their friend Jermey's usually really cool Dad, who drives an Aston Martin, was barbecuing a pansy little set of previously boiled safeway babyback ribs on his $30,000 backyard grill - christ, you will be held in kid envy forever and probably be feared the neighbourhood over - do you think that if the neighbours ever have a problem with you that they'll be able to muster the courage to peer over the fence and confront you? - I doubt it - you barbecue whole animals in the backyard - people will start gossiping and saying that your with the Hells Angels - your house won't be broken into for as long as you live - Keith, you owe this to your kids.

Edited April 22, 2004 by paul mitchell (log)

[jayhay]

Keith.....

[mantee]

Puerto Rico, every Sunday the mountains have fests , all have the roasted pig.

[stovetop]

paul mitchell that is

stovetop

another BC'er

Keith you could always buy it already done; I have been to many A Filipino BBQ, they are experts at this sort of thing, Van has to have a few catering co that could do this, or break out and go hog crazy and do the biggest shin dig any body on the block has ever seen.

[Ling]

You can order them from most Chinese butchers. I don't know how much they generally cost, but my parents bought one for just under $300 last year for Chinese New Year. I think they are a bit pricier around CNY though since the demand goes up.

[chasmartel]

Didn't I read something about a pig farmer in Port Coquitlam doing something interesting things with sausage? I think he's having some trouble with the law . . . maybe you can get a deal.

Paul Mitchell: Your post was one of the funniest I've ever read. Sounds good read out loud too.

[scout]

Hey Keith:

Don't know if you've seen this before, but I just came across an eGCI course from awhile back called "Pit Roasting a Pig" ...

"Pit Roasting a Pig"

Please keep us in the loop if you end of going though with this.

Good luck!

Scout

Edited April 23, 2004 by scout (log)

[tasty]

Keith,

I'd have to agree with Paul...you do owe it to your kids! *haha*

I recently got to participate in the all-day affair of a whole-pig roast for a friend's wedding and it was extremely satisfying. Save for the part where you have to impale the pig from one end and out the other, I'd say it would make for a great family day.

Hope you find your pig.

[spazzley]

I not sure but I think J N and Z Deli on Commerical Dr. will roast a whole suckling pig for you on saturdays. If not they do sell unroasted whole pigs large and small.

[Varmint]

If you have a lot of money, and I mean a LOT, you could hire me.

[Keith Talent]

I'm going to hire Paul Mitchel to be my personal "devil in my ear". "Paul, should I have another drink?" "Paul, getting your taxes filed on time is for wusssies, right?" "Paul, should I live my dream of becoming a hillbilly moonshiner and setting up a still in the garage?"

In all seriousness, I live in Richmond, on a 40X100 foot lot. Pig pits don't really factor in to the urban planning, (or lack thereof) in my neighbourhood. Although the school down the street has lots of open unused space...

And yeah, roasting a pig in the backyard does imbibe a certain muy machismo to the roaster, but I'll have to rely on more traditional tactics to buy my kids love, trips to Disney, ice cream and acquiescing to their every demand while walking down the cereal isle at Save-on-Foods.

That all said, I'm adding "roast a whole pig in a pit" to my list of tasks to be accomplished before I die.

[paul mitchell]

Keith:

The still in the garage is a great idea - you could sell the stuff and then be able to hire Varmint to roast the pig for you.

P.S. - My sister is a school psychologist for the district of Richmond so I can always refer your kids to her if you ever did put them through the trauma of pit roasting animals in the backyard.

[woodburner]

Do the backyard cook, yurself.

Comon, show some nuts.

Small little piglets would be very doable, and inexpensive.

We'll help you.

Kind of, sort of.

When I showed my wife my new $2500.00 outdoor cooker she asked "What's that"?

Easy reply was , "Your vacation". Of course I didn't say that, but I almost did.

woodburner

[eatrustic]

I wish I could tell you where to find this in B.C. but check out the article on Korobuta Pork (an old English breed called Berkshire transplanted to the States) in this week's latimes.com.

It's the lead article and man do I wish we had something like that here. How does "plump, juicy and terrifically rich sound"? Isn't there any one raising heirloom pork in our neck of the woods?

[kobykoby]

The Japanese meat store on East Hastings - Nikuya Meats - has Japanese Kurobuta - sweet potato fed.

107-2828 E.Hastings St. Vancouver

Tel:604-216-2983

[eatrustic]

Wow, thanks, i'm on it !

[fresco]

There is a way to roast your own pig in a small yard--buy one of these, or build one. Think there are instructions somewhere on the Net:

http://www.lacajachina.com/

[Coop]

Please tell me that isn't a cat in that picture on the right.

[stovetop]

If it is; that is a very big cat??

stovetop

[mot juste]

Keith:

If the backyard thing doesn’t work out, you could try the restaurant route. Osteria Napoli on Renfrew steet used to do special evenings where they only served whole roast pig. It was a bit of a theatrical production when the waiters all emerged from the kitchen with the porkers held aloft on trays -- and very popular with the regulars who booked reservations well in advance. I went a couple of times and it was a pretty entertaining sight, although I learned not to take the kids, who got a little freaked out by the whole thing. Now that we are no longer living in the city I haven’t kept track of whether or not the restaurant is still doing these dinners.

Eatrustic:

I'm pretty sure the Bearfoot Bistro at Whistler was serving Berkshire pork this winter. I think they got it from a farm in Ontario (?) but someone in their kitchen might give you a local source.

[eatrustic]

Thanks mot juste, I took kobykoby's advice and went to Nikuya Meats on E.Hastings where I found not only Korabuta but also a variety of pork that is raised on Rye.

Apparently the owner has a connection with the syndicate that ships all the Korabuta Pork to Japan. Unfortunately this limits the selection of cuts to specific boneless items like loin, part of the shoulder and belly.

As to be expected in a shop where Kobe Beef is a featured item the prices here are not to be taken lightly. The shoulder cuts were $4.00/100gr and the loin was $4.50! At this price I decided to go with a piece of loin as my preferred cut (the shoulder) would require too much to experiment with and not require a bank loan. So... a piece that was slightly over a 1lb. came to $23.00!!

Believe me I am currently not in the best financial postion but I'm always willing to try a new high quality heirloom product. The hope being that sufficient positive feedback will create a larger local market with more reasonable pricing.

So I took my little treasure home and made a spice rub with sea salt, coriander seed, fennel seed, fresh garlic and cracked black pepper, rubbed it all over and let it marinate for a day in the fridge (a la Zuni). I pan roasted it after browning on all sides in a 375 F. oven until it was just at the pink and juicy stage.

The verdict? It was very tasty, moist and flavourful, definitely better than the standard brand. The Mrs. thought it was the best pork she had ever tasted and as for me well it was damn good but the price needs to be a heck of a lot lower to get me try it more often, although I definitely will give the more reasonably priced grain raised pork a try in the near future.

(As an aside, has anyone here ever composed a nice little piece and in using the preview post mode lost the whole !!*#**!! thing when a correction was accidentally made in preview and not the original???)

[kobykoby]

Glad I could be of help eatrustic.

Getting a little further off topic but Nikuya Meats has some of the best Bentos in Vancouver.

Too bad they don't offer the whole animal...

[Badiane]

edited because I didn't check the date....

but does anyone know a Berkshire/Korubuta pork dealer anywhere? I'd like a ham....

Edited May 2, 2005 by Badiane (log)