Hi Heather,

I think this is a fabulous idea, and I'm sure you'll pull it off. But I'd start with the other end of the pig. The head is pretty intimidating. How about trying pork cracklings? You make them from the skin. My mother used to make them when I was little (she also rendered pig fat into lard - a smell I will never, ever forget). But the crackings were good.

Cheers,
Noelle.

what we do here in the philippines is that we chop the cheeks, snout (ulk), ears and mince it up and cook in over a sizzling plate! YUMMY if i may say- we call it SISIG :)

Very interesting approach. I’d recommend the Pig Head Recipe from the French Laundry Cookbook. What a great way to use the whole head. Haven’t seen any other pig head recipes.

Cheers,
Sean

That was great fun! I can't wait for your next adventure. And I think I'll try that recipe soon....can't remember the last time I ate SPAM. Thanks.

Hi Heather,

FYI, you can order cheeks -- and just the cheeks -- effortlessly at the Niman Ranch website if you're game for trying again. I've done it myself:

http://tinyurl.com/83y8m

i know everyone is just going to write this off 'cause i'm biased, but here goes anyway:
When the headline said you were going to eat a whole pig, I figured that meant you were going to have, say, one poor pig in particular killed and then frozen and maybe work your way through it to prove some kind of point about wastefulness or something. Which does need to be brought up- like, if you're going to eat meat, at least use the whole animal. But no. I was disappointed to see that instead you not only buy into the conceit that we as humans have somehow earned the right to breed, enslave, torture and then kill other animals simply to eat them, but you are then hypocritically disgusted when you actually have to acknowledge the fact that yes, that animal you were so callously munching on and casually buying body parts of WAS just that- an animal; in fact the closest animal (dna-wise) to us humans. You looked into its eyes and felt creepy because it IS creepy. We're not supposed to be doing this- or if we do, we should at least be able to do so with some gratitude and humility for the animal that gave its life to become fodder for some priveleged yuppie's food blog. And be able to face the simple reality that meat comes from animals. I'm not trying to be aggro, I'm just putting it out there. A little respect for the other animals that share this world with us isn't a lot to ask.

Hi Joe, I completely agree with you, but I might suggest that this isn't the best place to post such a rant. At least we should be happy that there is a resurgence in eating odd animal parts. This is less wasteful. Also, who knows where the Mexican butcher gets his pig? Perhaps he's selling organic, home-grown pork ... stranger things have happened.
An infrequently carnivorous, but decidedly SO, poster

Good luck with the pig cheeks Heather

Oops! I meant Pike!

In a country where meat companies don't want consumers thinking about where their meat comes AT ALL, a journal like this will be an eye-opener to many consumers. 95% of the meat sold in this country is shrink-wrapped and neatly packaged so consumers don't have to get squeemish or uncomfortable about their purchase. How convenient.

I find Heather's voice honest and refreshing and I look forward to watching and hearing her revelations and experiences over time as she works her way through this project.

People don't become vegetarian or vegan overnight. To polarize the issue doesn't help things. To start to strip back the layers of marketing strategy and packaging put in place by industrialized meat will help give consumers a different perspective and insight into what it means to eat meat that hasn't been totally supermarketized. This journal helps to do that. So, bravo on that front Heather.

I have many meat eating friends and family members. I really focus on encouraging them (if they are going to eat it at all) to eat humanely farmed, organically raised animals and dairy. And to at least explore or try to eat one meat-free meal a day, if for no other reason to expand thier horizons.

To think the majority of this country will ever embrace vegetarianism or veganism exclusively is unrealistic. BUT if every American ate one meat free meal a day, the positive impact on our environment, well-being, etc. would be enourmous.

That sort of shift doesn't happen overnight. You have to inspire people with delicious, alternatives to what they are used to eating, and you have to educate them in a way that isn't confrontational and combative. To really make a shift you have to engage them on a culinary level not an animal-rights level.

Again, I commend Heather for helping to put a face back on some of the food on our table if only to help educate consumers who have become totally disconected in regards to where their food comes from.

-Natalie

I'm with Natalie all the way. I love Heather's project and can't wait to see how her endeavors turn out!

I'll be back for more...

I'm with Natalie all the way. I love Heather's project and can't wait to see how her endeavors turn out!

I'll be back for more...

I want to affirm that this is an interesting and worth-doing project and to commend Heather on the honesty and humor with which she reported her tangle with the butcher and the pig's head. Many of us have quailed when faced with our ambitions made real. Backing off and approaching from another direction is an act of courage, not cowardice and looking honestly at our responses to our food is an act of respect for that food.
I also want to thank an earlier poster for the lead to Niman Ranch pork cheeks and to offer an Ogden Nash poem which I hope will bring a smile:

The sweetbreads looking up at me
Are not what they purport to be.
Says Webster, in one paragraph,
It is the pancreas of a calf.
Since they are neither sweet nor bread,
I think I'll have a bun instead.