A Dubious Honour

It's the time of year when many traditions kick-in all over the world, and Bulgaria is no exception.  It's certainly nice to be invited by a neighbour to share salad and a 'malka' rakia on such an occasion, and not unusual to be asked to help out with one thing or another the favour being returned in many, varied and interesting ways, but to be invited to attend an age old Balkan ritual which is becoming more of a rarity as time goes by, one which generally takes place in the winter months leading up to or shortly after Christmas and which will ensure a good diet for your friend and his family well into the new year, will allow you to share some quality time with new and well established friends, and also allow you to celebrate the life and demise of ...................

The Family Pig 

.... is a dubious honour indeed!!

This is the second such event I have attended though I did miss the 'dirty deed' at the first, and today was again a double 'celebration' .... that's two pigs!  

I don't really want to get into too much detail at this stage so as to spare those with a different perspective who might be reading but [only a little rant], I believe, and I can only speak for the former townie super-market visiting UK expat converts among us, that we have lost sight of where our food actually comes from.  

It wasn't too many years ago that this practice was common, although not ritualised, in villages all over the British Isles, and faded only through bureaucracy, legislation and a need to ensure animal welfare.  I don't necessarily disagree that it [control] wasn't needed but we REALLY need to understand how our food is raised and what the acceptable practices should be to protect our health and welfare, alongside the welfare of the animal providing us with such a valuable resource.   

Anyway [mini rant over :) ], many people in Bulgaria continue to 'grow their own' as I too intend this year, though the practice is rapidly becoming too costly to make it financially viable for those with the will to continue this ancient tradition, and is very likely to be legislated against in the not too distant future.  All this said, if you've never experienced the event then I urge you to accept this honour if bestowed, it may be the last chance you get to see this type of food processed in a time honoured way.

So, this is how my day panned out .............

Warning:  If you're squeamish don't look or read further!

I arrived just before 9AM to be welcomed by a line-up of friendly Bulgarian faces, and my mate Norm .... he's friendly too!  A little preparation followed with tables being erected, water put on to heat, blow torches and knives at the ready ....... let the ritual begin!!

In my experience, and today was no different, the animal was treated with every respect before its passing, and despatch was swift and clean.

'Anaesthetic' was applied in the form of a heavy strike to the head, closely followed by blood letting and immediate death, much more humane (in my opinion) than Halal methods of slaughter.  There was a little nervous movement immediately after but this soon subsides ..... that's the preamble over!!

The reality is as above .... for the first animal, the second was a little more aware of what was going on, attempted an escape and had to be re-captured.  To my mind this wasn't best practice but unusual.

Each animal was lifted to a table on its side, hairs burned, skin blistered and scraped.  All the while gallons of hot water swabbed down the table, the beasts and at times, me!  Once burned, scraped and salted the real work began.  The beasts were placed on their backs with a log to support them upright on either side.  A crucifix was carved in the chest and the head was removed.  The chest was cut open in a specific way and some rind from the chest was removed and eaten, fat (to be rendered down) was also removed.

The shoulders were removed and a small amount of meat was given to our host, Bozhan, to take away.  The innards were removed to a bowl.  The melt and spleen was removed and again passed to Bozhan who by now had the barbecue going.  Rakia with honey and mandarin, an excellent tipple, was passed round to accompany the salted rind.  The fillets were removed and then one leg, the other left for weight and balance.  At that point I became чук майстор  (hammer craftsman).  The slaughter-man (Alexis) held a small axe to the spine and I hit it [the axe] repeatedly until the beast fell in half.  The loins and last leg were removed and the remaining fat was portioned and ready to render.

During this whole process we were being fed the freshest barbecued meat I have ever tasted, home-made wine, the barbecued melt and spleen, neither of which was to my taste and apparently not something that we would expect to see in a UK butchers  ...... together with several other of today's cuts!

All the while, the lungs were being minced in readiness for the intestine which would be made into a sausage, the name of which I don't remember.  The final butchery task was to remove the liver and kidneys and to clean the bowel and intestines ready to be used for sausages, and before I forget, even the bladder is used as a container for some delicacy ............ virtually every part of the animal is used, even the tails disappeared.

All of the equipment was meticulously cleaned, Norm and I disappeared for a rinse down ourselves, the odour tends to cling and that was pretty much it.  All that was left to do was to enjoy the wonderful Bulgarian hospitality provided by the Dimov family .........................................

Благодаря ви много за приятелството и опит на деня

The Motley Crew

Thanks very much for the friendship and experience of the day

Here are a couple of links to some good information about the ritual I describe.  Performing the act on the street is of ritual significance and my understanding is that it is an act of defiance performed at the end of the Ottoman rule of Bulgaria, but I have yet to find any definitive reference to that, but I'll keep searching. 

http://old.vagabond.bg/?page=review&sub=38&open_news=722

http://www.ruffguidetobulgaria.com/subpage.html