Suckling Pig

In culinary contexts, a suckling pig is slaughtered between the ages of two and six weeks. It is traditionally cooked whole, often roasted, in various cuisines. It is usually prepared for special occasions and gatherings. The most popular preparation can be found in Spain and Portugal under the name lechón (Spanish) or leitão (Portuguese).

The meat from suckling pig is pale and tender and the cooked skin is crisp and can be used for pork rinds. The texture of the meat can be somewhat gelatinous due to the amount of collagen in a young pig.

History

There are many ancient recipes for suckling pig from Roman and Chinese cuisine. Since the pig is one of the first animals domesticated by human beings for slaughter, many references to pigs are found in human culture. The suckling pig, specifically, appears in early texts such as the sixth-century Salic law. As an example of a law governing the punishment for theft, Title 2, article 1, is, in Latin, Si quis porcellum lactantem furaverit, et ei fuerit adprobatum (malb. chrane calcium hoc est) CXX dinarios qui faciunt solidos III culpabilis iudicetur. "If someone has stolen a suckling pig and this is proven against him, the guilty party will be sentenced to 120 denarii which adds up to three solidi (Latin coins)." The words chrane calcium are written in Frankish; calcium (or galza in other manuscripts) is the gloss for "suckling pig"; porcellum lactantem. These glosses in Frankish, the so-called Malbergse Glossen, are considered the earliest attested words in Old Dutch.

Regional dishes

There are various preparations for suckling pig in Western and Asian cuisines.

Latin countries

Lechón (Spanish, Spanish pronunciation: [leˈtʃon]; from leche "milk" + -ón), cochinillo asado, or leitão (Portuguese; from leite "milk" + -ão) is a pork dish in several regions of the world, most specifically in Spain (in particular Segovia), Portugal (in particular Bairrada) and regions worldwide previously colonized by the Portuguese Empire or Spanish Empire. Lechón/Leitão is a word referring to a roasted baby pig (piglet) which was still fed by suckling its mother's milk (a suckling pig). Lechón/Leitão is a popular item in the cuisine in Los Angeles (in the United States), Spain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and other Spanish-speaking nations in Latin America, as well as in Portugal, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and other Portuguese-speaking nations. It is also present as cochon de lait in the French-Swiss and French cuisines (in particular in Metz), in Italy (in particular in Sardinian cuisine as su porcheddu) and Romania. The dish features a whole roasted suckling pig cooked over charcoal. It has been described as a national dish of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Spain, Portugal, as well as the Philippines. However, the pig-roasting traditions of the Philippines (similar to other Austronesian regions) have native pre-colonial origins. The meaning of "lechon" in Filipino has diverted from the original Spanish term to become a general term for "roasted pig", and is used in reference to adult roasted pigs rather than to suckling pigs, with Cebu being asserted by American chef Anthony Bourdain as having the best pigs.

In most of these regions, lechón/leitão is prepared throughout the year for special occasions, during festivals. It is the centerpiece of the tradition Cuban Christmas feast La Noche Buena. After seasoning, the piglet is cooked by skewering the entire animal, entrails removed, on a large stick and cooking it in a pit filled with charcoal. The piglet is placed over the charcoal, and the stick or rod it is attached to is turned in a rotisserie action.

Puerto Rico

The dish has been described as a national dish of Puerto Rico. The name of the dish in Puerto Rico is lechón asado. It is a traditional dish served at festivals and holidays.

Colombia

Lechona, also known as lechón asado, is a popular Colombian dish. It is similar in style to many preparations made in other South American countries, consisting of a roasted pig stuffed with yellow peas, green onion, yellow rice and spices, cooked in an outdoor brick oven for several hours. It is mostly traditional to the Tolima Department in central Colombia and is usually accompanied by arepas, a corn-based dough.

Southeast Asia

Philippines

The Philippines, a former Spanish colony, also has a dish that acquired the Spanish name "lechón" (usually spelled lechon without diacritics, but also litson or lichon); but it differs from the Spanish lechón in that it uses adult pigs, uses different native ingredients (distinctively lemongrass, binucao fruits, tamarind, and citrus leaves), is cooked differently, and is pre-colonial in origin (natively known as inasal or inihaw [na baboy]).

Variants of lechón that use suckling pigs are differentiated as lechon de leche (which in Spanish would be a linguistic redundancy). The dish that is explicitly derived from the Spanish lechón style of cooking is known as cochinillo. Unlike native Filipino lechons, cochinillo uses a suckling pig that is splayed and roasted in an oven.

The term lechon has also become generalized as a loanword for anything spit-roasted over coals. It is also used for other Filipino dishes like lechon manok (native roasted chicken) and lechon baka (a whole cow spit-roasted Filipino-style), thus lechon made from whole pig is differentiated as "lechon baboy" (literally "pig lechon").

Indonesia

In Indonesia, roast pig (using both adult or suckling pig) is called babi guling, babi putar, babi panggang or babi bakar; it is predominantly found in non-Muslim majority regions, such as Hindu Bali and Christian Batak lands in North Sumatra, the Minahasa people of North Sulawesi, Toraja in South Sulawesi, Papua, and also among Chinese Indonesians. In Bali, babi guling is usually served with lawar and steamed rice; it is a popular dish in Balinese restaurants and warungs. In the Batak people's tradition, babi guling is a prerequisite in wedding offerings by the bride's family. In Papua, pigs and yams are roasted in heated stones placed in a hole dug in the ground and covered with leaves; this cooking method is called bakar batu (burning the stone), and it is an important cultural and social event among Papuan people.

East Asia

China

In various Chinese communities (especially in Southern China), a roast suckling pig is purchased for special family occasions, business launches, or as a ritualistic spiritual offering. For example, one tradition is to offer one or several whole roast suckling pigs to the Jade Emperor to celebrate a Chinese film's opening. The pig is sacrificed to ward off evils and in prayer for the film's success. One garnish used to make the dish look more appealing is a circular slice of pineapple and cherry, and is often placed in a red box for luck.

Suckling pig dishes in parts of Southeast Asia, like Singapore and Vietnam, are also influenced by ethnic Chinese cuisine. Roast suckling pig is eaten in Chinese or Vietnamese restaurants for important parties. It is also a popular dish at wedding dinners or a party for a baby's completion of its first month of life.

Cantonese style roasted whole suckling pig
Roast suckling pig bearing 囍 (Double Happiness) placard at a Cantonese wedding

Northern Europe

The European cuisines of Austria, Croatia, Georgia, Germany, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Sweden favor the dish highly as well. It accompanies goose as the traditional Christmas feast of families in Russia and Serbia, while the Russian Navy maintains a tradition of presenting a roast piglet (or several) to the crew of a ship returning from deployment.

Suckling pig is known in German, Austrian and German-Swiss cuisines as Spanferkel and in the Dutch cuisine as speenvarken. It can be roasted in the oven or grilled, and is often served at festive occasions such as Oktoberfest.

In Sweden suckling pig is called spädgris, it is usually cooked in the oven, or sometimes roasted directly over the fire. It is often stuffed with various fruits such as apples and plums, together with butter and breadcrumbs.

Odojak na ražnju, Croatian cuisine
Spanferkel, German cuisine

United States

The suckling pig is used in Cajun cuisine in the southern U.S., where the Cochon de Lait Festival is held annually in the small town of Mansura, Louisiana. During this festival, as its name implies, suckling pigs are roasted. Other uses for the suckling pig in the U.S. include slow roasting in an oven or (as in a Hawaiian-style pig roast) in a pit. The latter remains popular in the cuisine of the Southern United States.^{[citation needed]}

Footnotes