Pigging Out

Travel Blog  •  David Farley  •  12.18.08 | 2:55 PM ET

Photo: the_toe_stubber via Flickr, (Creative Commons)

David Sedaris put it best in Me Talk Pretty One Day when he recalled meeting his boyfriend and eventually settling in France: “I wound up in Normandy the same way my mother wound up in North Carolina: you meet a guy, relinquish a tiny bit of control, and the next thing you know, you’re eating a different part of the pig.”

It’s true—at least about the pig part: I once watched a sow get slaughtered in the Czech hinterlands and the first offerings turned out to be the beast’s brains, followed by its heart, its blood (as soup), and, finally, fried nuggets of pig fat. But I’d never encountered such parts on the menus of restaurants in the United States. That is, until now.

Chefs, particularly of the male variety, have become obsessed with serving pig parts rarely seen at restaurants on these shores. Ben Ford’s pig-centric menu at Ford’s Filling Station in Culver City, California comes to mind. I recently saw a special menu at a restaurant offering a five-course meal of pork “from snout to tail.” I’ve seen enough offal on offer lately to make me think I was living in Rome again.

A couple weeks ago, I dined at the chef’s table at an Upper West Side restaurant. I’d eaten there once before and found it somewhat mediocre, the menu filled with whimsical but elevated takes on classic American comfort food (think truffle dusted mac ‘n’ cheese). But at the chef’s table, the chef usually sends out whatever he or she damn well pleases. While my fellow bon vivants speculated what the six-course meal would consist of, I took a glance at the chef, who was heavily tattooed, and smirked. I knew what was coming. After an amuse bouche of salmon carpaccio, the piggie parts came rolling in: brain, cheek, tongue, and finally slow-roasted neck.

So what is this culinary obsession with pigs? Maybe Americans are just finally catching up with the rest of the world and utilizing the whole beast. Which is good news—except that I no longer have an excuse to go to Rome or the Czech hinterlands when I really want to eat another part of the pig.

Tags: Food, Restaurants, North America, United States, California, Los Angeles, New York, New York City, News and Briefs


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