28th Birthday Piggy-Q

W.A.R.N.I.N.G!!! This post is about cooking a pig in the ground. If you do not care to read about it, that is fine and I completely understand. I will not post any "graphic" pictures. If you want to see those, let me know and I can email them to you.

I have always wanted to do a "burried" pig. When Tren asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday this year, I told him I wanted to have a bon fire. Well, the bon fire turned in to a burried pig party. This was just fine with me and I was very excited for it. Tren has many friends and without all these friends, this pig cooking would have been EXTREMLY difficult. Friday the 2nd, Tren was out and about getting pineapple, banana leaves, firewood, the pig, and salt. Later that evening we went to his friends house where the pig would be cooked and the party would be. One friend used his backho to dig a pit for the pig...

Once they had burned all the wood, and it had burned down to coals, it was time to prepare the pig. I have never seen anything like this! It was like a crime scene. First, they laid out a wire fence sort of thing. Then a burlap sack was laid, opened on the fence. Then the banana leaves were opened and laid on the burlap. Then the pig was laid on the banana leaves. Then pineapple and salt was poured in to the pig. Then the leaves and burlap was wrapped around the pig and the fence was wired shut. Snug as a pig in a burlap sack:

Then it was lowered into the coals, shielded with tin and burried:

The next day was the big party! This piggy was cooking from about 9:30pm to about 6:30pm the following day. Conveniently, it was pouring rain when everyone was showing up to the party. The pig was still burried and I was getting anxious and very hungry. Finally, Tren went and hopped on the backho and dug it up. He was soaking wet from being out in the rain. They got it out and set it up on a table and started cutting the wires and pulling off the banana leaves and BAM! there was the pig. Since it was so cold outside, it was steaming (and steamed for most of the night). This made for a great show! I was up taking pictures of the pig being unveiled and some guy I dont know, grabbed a piece of the meat and said "Try this!" and shoved it in my mouth. I then watched him grab another piece FROM THE KNEE and try feeding it to someone else. I nearly lost my appetite then. But! I managed to keep it together and eat more pig later.

Here are some pics of the bon fire:

The pig was a hit,... I don't think I need to do it again. There was a lot left over and it was a lot of work and preparation and very expensive. I had a great time at my party, though! Once the pig was out of the ground, it stopped raining and the fire kept us warm all night. Thank you to everyone who helped out with the pig and side items.