Butchering pigs at Mado *not-so graphic pictures alert*

Last Thursday, 29 October, The Chicago Tribune reviewed Rob and Allie Levitt’s restaurant Mado, giving it an “Excellent” rating. You can check out the article, here. On the day when the article came out, I was just coming into Mado to help out for the morning.

Every other week, a whole hog is delivered to Mado, sans head, and Rob and company break it down for consumption. This week, I am giving you a sneak peek inside the kitchen to see how this process is accomplished.

Last week, I featured an article on butchering sheep and based on reader feedback, it seems people really are interested in learning how their food gets from farm to table. For the record, the pictures that are after the jump are not as graphic as last week’s, but do feature blood, the insides of a pig and they show, in detail, how a pig gets fabricated into something edible. Please be warned.

Again, I hope this serves as a guide for those of you who are interested in the butchering process.

Of course, as always, thank you to Rob and Allie Levitt for allowing me to help in the kitchen and to Rich Hawley for being such a great kitchen mentor. Thank you.

The pig delivered to Mado weighed 180 lbs, which should be enough for the restaurant for a week (or two). It came to us already slaughtered; without a head and severed hooves, most likely because of inspection regulations. The picture below should help you to picture where everything is. The head would normally be on the left side and the brown organ on the right is the kidney. Usually, the kidneys are encased in fat, but the fat has been removed in this pig by the inspectors.

Rob likes to start cutting at the cap of fat called the leaf lard. This is the purest fat on the animal, is the highest grade of lard on the animal and is the least pork tasting. It is popularly used for baking or can be rendered and used for frying. Leaf lard is located right near the kidney (see above), inside the loin.

Rob removing the leaf lard

After Rob removes the leaf lard, he starts to remove the loin and tenderloin. He says that the knife really does most of the work. As you glide it along the “seams” of the muscles, the loin almost removes itself. The loin is located on top of the spine and the tenderloin is under the spine.

Rob displays the tenderloin

Andrea Deibler starts to remove the leg from the body

When removing the leg, Andrea Deibler, one of Rob’s assistants, says that you need to look for the aitch bone, or exposed pubic bone that connects to the ham (leg). Her technique is to feel for the ball joint and then dig her knife in between the ball joint and the aitch bone to cut the tendons. From there, she cuts around the aitch bone and then the ham pretty much just comes off.

As Rob worked over the rest of the pig, he said he liked to think of what he did as an “artisan craft”. He likes knowing that when he serves pig to his guests that it all comes from the same animal. Some restaurants do not employ this “whole hog” mindset which is really what sets Mado apart from so many other restaurants. Using the whole animal ensures nothing goes to waste, which is the responsible thing to do.

Other interesting things about pigs is that you can actually use the jowls and cheeks to make guanciale, or Italian bacon, that has a strong flavour and delicate texture. It is traditionally used in carbonaras and is usually cured for three weeks.

After the shoulder and ham have been removed, Andrea takes apart the ribs. She delicately cuts them free from the flesh below and completely exposes the loin and belly. The belly and the loin are actually attached. Andrea then separates the ribs from the spine by using a really large knife with a hacking motion.

Okay, time out. I know this looks completely barbaric, but please keep in mind that this is the process meat goes through to get to the table. It’s a heck of a lot better than factory farming and you can rest assured that all of the pieces of this pig are going to use. Rich says to think of the process as “fabricating” or making a finished product. Whether or not you expose yourself to this process, this is the reality of how pork gets to the table.

Remember that ham that was removed earlier? This is what happens to them as they become fabricated. First, the skin is removed without tearing it.

Then with a very sharp knife, you have to separate the “natural seams” of the meat (the tip of the knife is pointing at the seams), to separate all of the different muscles.

Once you separate the muscles, you need to unroll them (see above) and remove and discard the bones and silver skin. Silver skin (i.e. sinews) are a type f protein that does not break down (like the material that makes fingernails) and thus should not be eaten. It would not kill you, but it would be tough to chew and hard to digest.

Once the meat is free of silver skin, bone and unnecessary fat, you can massage a spice rub into it (the one above is made from black pepper, salt, thyme, rosemary and lemon zest) and roll it back up.

If you have any other questions about butchering pigs, feel free to ask them here or contact Rob at Mado. If you are interested in seeing more articles like this on MCH, please let me know by commenting or emailing makingchicagohome@gmail.com.

Dev xx