Matanza

You know where your meat comes from in the Alpujarra. Disappointingly, however, although this pig was killed immediately outside our front door, we didn't see a sausage.

In the week before Christmas, many families kill their one or two pigs to provide some fresh pork - and more importantly, a lot of sausages and ham for curing. It's quite a social occasion, with friends and extended family pitching in for what is a day or two of very hard work. The pig is killed with a slit to the throat, witnessed by a vet (they're busy at this time of year), then the hairs are burned off with blowtorches and the body is cleaned before butchering. They use everything but the squeek, and the day's killing, cleaning and sausage-making is accompanied by plenty of booze and a big stew of offal. I took the picture early on during the day, when they were still burning hair off the recently deceased pig, and scrubbing its little piggy skin. I was expecting a gift of a few black puddings to appologise for the mess, but no chance.