I wrote a while back that two young family members shot a wild hog at our Mississippi home, a sure sign that I am now living off the grid.
The menfolk field-dressed the hog on the driveway and disposed of the guts at a top-secret location as a peace offering to the turkey vultures. The next morning, the entire family cut the meat into big chunks and put the harvest in the freezer.
Now what? Can we really eat this porcine trespasser?
My brother-in-law sent me The Hog Book by Jesse Griffiths. This encyclopedic volume is the definitive guide to hunting, killing, butchering, and eating feral pigs.
In The Hog Book’s opening pages, Griffiths confidently asserted that all wild pigs are edible and some are delicious.
Can that be true? How can an animal so ugly and foul-smelling be good to eat?
However, I have several friends who have killed and eaten feral hogs. They assure me that the little wild piggies are pretty tasty, although large boars should be avoided.
Our family’s chief outdoorsman, Charlie, prepared the family’s first wild pig meal: Feral Hog and Rutabaga Stew. I ate two helpings and pronounced it excellent.
Here’s the recipe:
Season a pork shoulder with salt, pepper, and Tony Chachere’s seasoning. Brown the meat in a large saucepan with a bit of cooking oil.
While the meat is browning, cut up an onion, two bell peppers, a large head of celery, and two rutabagas. The rutabagas should be sliced into one-inch cubes.
Place the cut vegetables in the saucepan with the browned pork shoulder. Add two cups of beef stock. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer the meat and vegetables over low heat for three hours or until the pork meat is tender enough to be pulled into large shreds with a fork.
Why the rutabagas? Unlike potatoes, rutabagas will stay firm through three hours of cooking. Also, rutabagas add a sweet taste to the stew and diminish the gamey taste of wild hog meat.
I have long been intrigued by the idea of shooting and eating a wild pig. After all, there are millions of feral swine in the rural South, and they’re all edible.
When the Apocalypse descends on America, as it indeed will, I’m comforted in the knowledge that I am surrounded by pork chops on the hoof. My family can eat humanely raised, hormone-free, wild-caught meat during lean times, while my ill-prepared urban neighbors will be forced to survive on ramen noodles and freeze-dried tofu.
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| Have you ever eaten a feral hog? Many parts are edible. No, really! |
