Suckling Pig Brooklyn Style

02. October 2006 Pork 4

I spent my Friday afternoon at Kam Nam in Chinatown buying the necessary tools: plastic pail, check; cleaver, check. I perused my Fergus Henderson book for a brine recipe but I had to make a few adjustments because I didn’t have juniper berries on hand. The Dr. cut Rog in several sections to make him fit in the pail. Twenty-four hours later, he was ready to go to Williamsburg. (The Dr. went, too.)

When I first ordered Rog, I immediately thought of Chef George Weld of egg. I knew he would appreciate it and I knew he would want to partake in eating a suckling pig. He’s a busy man but he made time over the weekend to cook and welcome us to their home in Brooklyn. The head was cooked with carrots and celery. One of the legs was pan-fried before hitting the oven. The loins, well, they were just roasted to perfection. By the time we sat down to eat, we’ve already consumed two bottles of wine. We made my Brussels sprouts with bacon salad, added a bowl of nice turnips and radishes and opened two more bottles of red.

I’ve never seen a nicer plate of pig. Rog’s meat was very succulent and tasty–the product of just eating acorns in the farm where he came from. His meat was naturally flavorful and because the chef gave his full attention, his skin was golden and crispy. We had a few servings of each part. The loin was everyone’s favorite, of course, but we had a stab of the neck meat which was definitely more substantial and bloody-tasting, and the leg which was more lean. We thank Rog for letting us enjoy him the way he’s supposed to be enjoyed. We believe he served his ultimate purpose.

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