Zabíjačka!

I know its been a while since I posted, but boy do I have a good one for you guys.  Definitely falls under the "Big Fat Czech Life" category.  This isn't cute pictures of my kid...this is a traditional pig killing and sausage making extravaganza, in my sister in laws kitchen.

Background:  My inlaws had a screened in porch added to their dock.  Construction foreman is somehow Slavic in nature (I don't know the specifics).  He also raises heritage pigs.  One thing leads to another and for the low low price of a bowl of dumplings, we have a pig to make sausages with.  A heritage pig that is descendent from Spanish pigs.  An Ossabaw pig.  A few phone calls later, its time for a party.

We skipped out on the whole pig killing part and received our pig already dead and essentially quartered.  Thats when my father in law and our friend Pino went to town.  Turns out many phone calls were placed to CZ to ensure that things were done properly.  We created the typical cuts for pork, chops, loins, hams, etc, but also took it the next step and created some of the more traditonal offerings. 

The most "important" thing we were going to make this weekend was jitrnice.  This is a sausage made from the head meat.  Casings are cleaned pig intestine.  The head of the pig is boiled in huge pots with water, onions, carrots, herbs and spices, and garlic until everything on the head starts to fall apart.  Then you pick the meat off, grind it up, add more garlic and other spices and stuff your casings.  Pretty simple, if you don't mind the whole boiling pig head in your kitchen thing. 

Warning: this photo is probably graphic for most Americans who don't understand where food comes from.

So once you've got your pretty little boiled pigs head, you strip all the meat off of it and grind it up.  You don't have a meat grinder?  Kitchen Aid makes an attachment that works like a charm.  Check it out. Although I will warn that they only sell the plastic ones now, so some care should be taken.  Ours is metal and practically indestructable.

Once you've got everything ground and mixed, you start stuffing your casings.  It is very important to make sure that your pig intestines are very clean (obviously).  Ours came pre washed, but my father in law and our friend Sarah spent 30+ minutes at the sink insuring their cleanliness.  I walked in to find a 65 year old man and a 17 year old girl at the sink cleaning pounds of pig intestine.  I was struck with the thought that this sight could not be replicated in any kitchen within probably 20 square miles of where we were standing and that was sad.  We as a society are losing touch with our food and our traditions. 

Anyway, back on track.  Another thing that we were super excited to make is called škvarky.  Essentially, its fat.  We have always thought that it was fried fat, because the texture of the end result is little crispy bits of fat.  Turns out we were wrong. 

Making škvarky is a pretty simple process.  While you're butchering your pig, save all the large pieces of fat in a bowl.  Make sure all the skin has been removed, along with any hair or other things you don't want to eat. 

Then you fire up your propane burner (outside) with a large stock pot on top.  Add the fat to the stock pot and cook over very low heat for the next 2-3 hours.  As the fat renders out, strain it off into an additional bowl. 

Eventually you will be left with what are essentially small pork cracklings.  Traditionally they are eaten whole on a piece of bread with salt.  I've also had them ground up into a paste to be eaten on the bread with salt.  Either way, they are incredible.  Ejdo and I used some of our share in eggs and pasta over the next few days and both of those uses were phenomenal.

Now, all that fat that was rendered off.  Strain it through some cheese cloth to remove any solid particles.  As it cools, stir constantly.  This will help create a pleasant, non grainy texture.  Once its starting to turn white, pour into jars.  We created I believe 6 Mason jars of this fat, called sádlo.  It is just rendered pork fat, but its not like bacon grease.  It does not smell of pork and can be used in just about anything.  Many Czech baked goods use sádlo, and no Czech kitchen is complete without a jar. 

I should also mention the ever present Czech beer.  We happened to have a keg leftover from another party that was perfect for this occasion.  Unfortunately, the tap didn't arrive until almost noon (the horror), but we had plenty of bottles to tide us over.  Once the tap arrived, we put a hurting on that keg.  The Czechs don't do anything without copious amounts of liquid refreshment.  Anthony Bourdain of the Travel Channel once attended a zabíjačka while he was in CZ for a show.  He had so many shots early in the morning that he proclaimed that "verticality was becoming an issue".  Anyone who has watched Bourdain's shows knows that he can handle quite a bit of liquor, so you know this must have been a hard hitting event. 

At the end of the day, we all came away with quite a bit of food.  Ejdo brought home 6 pork chops, 4 pork steaks, a side of bacon that we are going to cure (I'm sure this will be a post later), ribs, loin pieces, a baggie of škvarky, a jar of sádlo, a jowl, and I believe 10 jitrnice.  My mother in law later made head cheese with an aspic she created from the hooves and bones and some of the meat that fell off the head while it was boiling.  The consistency is a little off putting, and I'll admit I'm not going to run out and eat more, but if I was hungry it would do.

We've already eaten all the škvarky, and had four of the pork chops last night for dinner.  They were small, but tasted amazing.  Simple marinade of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and a tuscan seasoning blend from Costco, combined with a few minutes on the grill and you've got a fantastic tasting piece of meat. 

The day was a complete success and the freezers are a little more full now.  More importantly, we in the younger generation learned how to make these traditional Czech items and will be able to carry the torch for a little longer.  Some things should never die, especially not anything that tastes this good.