The bacon rack in Park Farm's
kitchen. It hangs from the ceiling by means of hooks.
Following on from yesterday's post
about pig-keeping, we shall now look at the fate of the fattened pig.
Pig-killing or 'pig-sticking' was a
skilled job. The 'pig-sticking man' would tie and manhandle the pig onto the
pig-killing bench for the job to be done. It was usually a boy's job to collect
the gushing blood in buckets, then stir it as it cooled to prevent it
coagulating. This was used for black pudding.
The hairs were singed from the hide
and the dirt and skin scraped away. Then the carcass was systematically
butchered into joints for preserving.
It sounds gruesome to our delicate
modern tastes, but in the days before meat was available shrink-wrapped from a
supermarket, this was the only way a family could acquire a good nutritious
meal.
Tradition states that you can use
every part of a pig except the squeak, and everyone who kept a pig made sure
they did exactly that. Sides of bacon were a common sight hanging from bacon
racks in farmhouse kitchens or beside the fireplace in cottages, where the
smoke helped preservation. The cellars of large houses would be full of joints
packed in salt for preserving (see Day 20). Strings of sausages hung from
hooks. Brawn, black pudding and pig's trotters provided nutritious meals using
those parts which couldn't be preserved in pre-refrigeration days.
Bacon – the
traditional British breakfast food – was taken from the back or the belly of
the pig. It was salted then rolled tightly, and slices were taken off as
needed. It was ideal to keep for several
months – the reason it became a staple food in rural communities – although it wasn't uncommon for flies to find
their way into the rolls, and the occasional maggot to drop down the neck of
anyone sitting beneath.
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