The Passion of the Boar

Chelsea

Tue, 4 Oct 2011 19:23:39 GMT

Love the site, and LOVE this post! Wish we could pull off such an impressive boar dish! :)

Louis

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:46:30 GMT

Your desription of the event is wonderful and only surpassed by the event itself. I have roasted wild boar and bushpig cuts on many occassions and spitroasted SKINNED bushpig. I now have a wild boar with skin on (hair has been removed) and I would like the opinion of Hubert as to whether I should skin the hairless beast, or roast it with the skin. Can you help?

fx

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 21:11:28 GMT

Marian, indeed roasting directly over the embers is a surefire way of burning the meat with flares, old kitchens have all sorts of dripping trays to collect the juices rather than see them turn into billowing towers of fire! I love the rosemary/bay leaf branch used to baste the meat, so poetic!

Marian

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 21:06:32 GMT

Regarding the roast boar in FRONT of the fire rather than OVER the fire:

If you look at pictures of 16th and 17th and 18th Century kitchens you will see that this was the standard method. Over the years we have roasted a number of lambs in our back yard, and we always do it in front of the fire. Advantages: (1) you can collect the drippings in a pan; (2) you don"t risk burns while basting; (3) fat does not drip into the fire to create sizzles; (4) you can cook in front of a full fire -- no need to wait for embers.

We rigged up a forked spit holder and use 2 parallel spits to reduce the labor of turning. The spits are about 3-4 inches apart. We start with both spits sitting in the south forks (fire is to the north), after 15 minutes we move the upper spit to the north forks, after another 15 we move the remaining spit above the other in the north forks, and after another 15 move the bottom one back to the south forks. Rinse (with basting) and repeat.

Following a Medieval Spanish recipe that suggests "beating with a green stick", we use long, thick rosemary rods dipped in garlic-infused olive oil to thwack the roasts just before the spits are turned. This presents a newly basted side toward the fire.

Our guests have no complaints.

fx

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:25:32 GMT

Brandy, thanks for your kind words!

Brandy

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 07:18:33 GMT

Wow! Beautiful photos, and a beautiful young boar! Thanks for sharing the WHOLE procedure. It was fascinating and informative. Your photos of the unskinned beast in the hall did honor to his gloriousness!

The amazing dish he became looked very delicious, and if we ever have a chance to return to France, we will consider a stay at this beautiful castle!

fx

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:42:45 GMT

Anita, glad you liked the article and I hope you get to stay at Hattonchatel soon!

Anita Clarkson

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:14:59 GMT

Hi Francois-Xavier & Caroline, what a great article - I came upon this when trying to obtain your details through the internet. Pleased to see the exciting progression of your business. Well done - please contact me. best regards
Anita

parshu naryanan

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 23:26:00 GMT

Yes it is, unless the animal is declared crop destroying "vermin" (mostly is Nilgai antelope) in any area. I have refused to go on such shoots because i dont think it is much sport to pop off the large and clumsy Nilgai, dazed by a jeep-mounted searchlight. As in any third-world country with corrupt officals, the rich and privileged can bribe or influence forest officers into letting them hunt.A Bombay movie star called Salman Khan is facing trial for shooting a blackbuck in a widely reported case.

fx

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:08:35 GMT

Parshu, this sounds like really extraordinary memories! Is all hunting legally banned in India?

parshu

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:19:42 GMT

By Toutatis, what a feast! Hunting is now banned in India, but in my teenage years I did go on shikar(hunts) mostly from the back of army jeeps, and we (the Hindus and Sikhs only, our Muslim/Jewish buddies would stick to deer kababs)would enjoy the very lean and tough meat of wild boar later from a jar, tenderized and turned into pickle that tasted just awesome with "parathas". The occasional hunting of boar on foot, with shotguns and frangible filed bullets we called dum-dum in Hindi - needed a cold head as he could become very fierce when cornered by the beaters - our uncle"s old regimental orderly (from Rajasthan) would say that on occasion they could drive away a tiger.

fx

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 07:35:13 GMT

Nate, the beet and turnips are described in another article in the Hattonchatel serie, just following the link on top of the article. Roasting meat right above the coals is a sure way to have fat drip on the flames and come back with a vengeance in a huge flame that will burn the meat.

Nate

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:24:23 GMT

Wow, *that* is the way to do whole-hog barbecue in France! I"ve never seen the vertical roasting style before - usually the carcass is suspended above the coals, not next to them.

That plate of food makes me want to weep. Was that roasted radish and beet on the side?

fx

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:44:06 GMT

Good morning FX and thanks for your participation and that of your father to this memorable meal! I hope he will like the pictures too, this was really an extraordinary opportunity for us to take those nice pictures. I am sure that for French weddings the idea of a wild boar roast will be very appealing. Several readers had questions about the danger of Trichinosis, perhaps you might ask the person who has the boar park to see what he says, I"m sure it"s quite safe but people might want to know. Next week is my last article in the Hattonchatel serie!

fx

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:33:08 GMT

Laura, indeed the boar skinning is quite medieval and not for all to see, but the result was well worth the work.

Laura C

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:41:25 GMT

I"m not so thrilled with the skinned boar pics, but I understand the process and love slow roasted meats.
The finished product looks amazing.

francois-xavier cremel

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 15:49:32 GMT

Hi Francois-Xavier,
Once again your serie is just amazing , i didnt realized that as been on the scene the pictures would be making such a good illustration of this first roasted boar experience.The idea sounds interesting for duplication for one young couple willing to get married at the chateau next year.
We hope that it will be as good as this one. have a nice weekend FX. I also apprciated your turkish tour
Cheers.

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:25:14 GMT

Ayhan, do you mean to say there are no Turkish recipes for boar at all? I know that some Turks eat ham and drink alcohol, but never really investigated. Of course it makes sense - boar is pork - but does this mean I can"t get to see some traditional Turkish boar recipe?

ayhan u�maklı

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 07:37:35 GMT

Dear fx,Wild boar hunting in Turkey permitted throughout the year as they are regarded pests for agriculture. The best season is late autumn as they are fatter from the chestnuts etc. Almost all black sea region, northern trakya and Kaz dağları (Kaz mountains) (which expands from Bursa to �anakkale)and Toros mountains north of Antalya are forested and teeming with boar. There are arranged tours and plentiful meat as the locals regularly hunt and don"t eat the meat.

fx

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 00:17:42 GMT

Julie, yes they allow visitors although things are changing right now and visiting schedules might change. You can definitely book the castle, they have three suites for now but are working on refurbishing more rooms.

fx

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 00:10:17 GMT

Cynthia glad you liked my boar article!

Cynthia

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 21:55:55 GMT

As always, this was such a pleasure and thank for the 360-degree views!

Julie

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 18:49:13 GMT

What a lovely castle! Do they allow visitors or do you have to book an event?
I am always surprised when meat eating friends express disapproval of hunting & yet seem quite happy to eat factory farmed meat, which I believe is more cruel. I used to go hunting with hawks occasionally for rabbits (& the odd pheasant- the hawks just would no matter how often you told them not to) & the prey would either be caught & dead within seconds or else would get clean away. So much less suffering in my opinion. The meat was always better too and the rabbits were plumper, so the kind of life farmed rabbits have must be much worse than their free cousins.
Thank you for an interesting article, as always.

fx

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 15:27:00 GMT

Helena, the castle has actually been razed to the ground by Cardinal Richelieu and now it is equipped with a furnace for central heating. But back in the days each room had its own fireplace and I am not aware of medieval castles with devices to spread the heat across the building. I would gladly have asked for the hide to be turned into some furry hat to help me fight the rigor of Swiss winters, but the dog got it first. I don"t think they use it much these days. The boar was not larded nor barded and indeed, kudos to Hubert the roaster!

Helena

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 21:30:12 GMT

Wow this is informative. I"m glad your post skimped over most of the bleeding out, cleaning and skinning though. And I"m guessing you were glad you get to leave the unpleasant and bloody work to the experts too.

As for the walk-in fireplace. Wow. Pretty! I"m guessing Guy was just posing in there pretending to light up the boar, unless that fireplace has another exit or he was planning to do a Santa Claus. Nice fireplace. Is that the castle"s version of central heating? Historically, does the heat from that fireplace do anything besides warm up the room it is in.

I was wondering, what happened to the pig skin? As far as I know, most tanneries do not tan pig skin. Was it a DIY job at the castle or was the skin just thrown out eventually?

And why would the skin go straight into a larder? I understand the carcass needs to be cooled down before cooking, but the skin? Won"t the fat and membranes left over from the skinning need to be fleshed off? Or was the skin stored there due to the lack of time to do anything with it?

Also what is the temperature in the larder? Just wondering because some tanners believe hides should not be frozen, others believe a freezing and thawing cycle actually helps the hide to become softer and easier to work. Just wondering which way you all went about doing things.

Also for the boar ending up so juicy, was the roast larded with the fresh boar fat? If so, that would explain why it was so juicy. Otherwise it is just plain and simple kudos to the chef. :)

As for the seating arrangements, just be glad no one there were offered the eyes. ;) From what I"ve heard, Bedouin Arabs of the African deserts used to offer visiting foreigners eyeballs at the feast, claiming it was a treat. I don"t know if it were really a treat, but it sure kept the foreigners away. ;)

fx

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 15:35:01 GMT

Magda, I looked this book up, sounds quite funny! I have "War and Wine", same general topic, more gloomy however.

fx

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 15:34:10 GMT

Joanna, thanks for your kind words! What is a woodburning range? Do you mean some outside open hearth?

fx

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 15:33:02 GMT

Foodjunkie I"ll try to come dressed as a knight next medieval banquet!

FoodJunkie

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 12:02:15 GMT

I have been enjoying your medieval series immensly Francois. I am just wondering when we will see you wearing chain mail... :-)

Joanna

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 09:16:38 GMT

FABULOUS as ever ... and I have been thinking of your adventures all this week, since my copy of the Magic of Fire arrived - we have a new woodburning range, so just at the moment I am very interested in the old ways of cooking with flames.

Joanna

chiffonade

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 08:50:55 GMT

"Real Chiffonade (I hope that"s you!)"

Yes, it"s me! You can always tell when it"s me because I don"t spend anytime belittling people - just enjoying the comradery of cooking and the love of cuisine. I so enjoy your blog and live vicariously through your international experiences. Thanks for perpetuating the message that food is community and, as such, promotes harmony and commonality amongst we who value the talent.

Katalin Gulyas

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 04:08:55 GMT

We did roast it whole,in a similar fashion to the article.I"m actually a city girl,never lived in the woods or country,but my parents are really outdoor people,so i spent a lot of my time in father"s hunting lodge.It was a great time and gave me an interesting set of skills.

Magda

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 03:16:32 GMT

FX- that looks fantastic! Thanks for another wonderful article!

On a different note- I"ve just finished reading a book that I thought might appeal to you "The Billionaire"s Vinegar" by Benjamin Wallace :)

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 23:39:25 GMT

Fran, I think it"s a great idea to use the boar skin, this should provide for even better taste. I was quite surprised - and relieved - to see that Hubert managed to get a crispy crust despite having skinned the boar. When I asked what people usually did with the boar fur they laughed, maybe some carpet for a die-hard bachelor, they said. In which part of the world did your grandfather roast boars?

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 23:37:24 GMT

Marilia, glad you liked the article, should sounded like heaven!

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 23:36:42 GMT

Ivan thanks for your appreciation! For off-camera flashes you need little flashguns like the Nikon SB-800, you place them on top of small collapsible light stands (little tripods) and then trigger them either using the built-in on-camera flash, or, like I do now, with a wireless flash sync. I"ll try and post a picture of me doing this in the future so you guys can see how it"s done. The best results sometimes are when you don"t really realize there is a flash, for instance the two pictures of Hubert the Hunter roasting the boar outside the castle both had a flash on him to provide for a crisper, more detailed subject in the face of the strong sunlight.

ivan seligman

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 22:45:22 GMT

Francois,

I feel like I was there from your story and photos, I wish I was there to taste it! I could set up my tent, be fruitful and multiply, in that humongous fireplace!

Pehaps you might diagram how you use off camera flashes relative to your camera, to get such a beautiful lighting. I"m ready to learn and try, knowing it can look this good!

Ivan

marilia

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 16:08:28 GMT

The perfect dinner! (just like the pictures). We should all take active roles in our feeding manners. This place semms like heaven!

Fran Magbual

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 15:50:25 GMT

That boar meat looked delicious! My grandfather was an expert boar hunter on his island and passed the skills on to a couple of my uncles. For my first birthday he roasted up two hogs for the party! In our part of the world (tropical) though, the boars or pigs are shaved and the animal is roasted skin on. I"m guessing it"s because the hides are not needed for clothing. Any was you do it though, wild boar is good eating!

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:37:52 GMT

Rosa, it was heavenly indeed! I have never tried boar hunted in Switzerland, this would be very exciting, I"ll look for some hunters...

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:36:40 GMT

Babazar, thanks for visiting my site! I am very fond of tandir cooking and am amazed that you can find a one big enough to cook a boar in it. Do you put the whole marinated boar inside the tandir hanging from a hook? How do you marinate it - what spices do you use for this? In which part of Turkey do you hunt?

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:35:05 GMT

Paul, indeed I had some fun with my off-camera flashes for this article, but this was a work of pleasure, sleeping and eating like a Bishop in a French castle for taking pictures, I really can"t complain! Pork has less taste, boar is a stronger meat with slightly more fibers. I must say I had never eaten it roasted but will definitely do it again the first chance I get!

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:33:12 GMT

Katalin, thanks for sharing an amazing memory of your childhood! Did you live in the woods? Was the wild boar ever roasted or always simmered?

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:31:45 GMT

Dawn, I understand your feeling towards this young and handsome boar, but on how many chickens who live in horrible cages piled on top of each other live under a cascade of refuse, only to be transformed into tasteless nuggets? I guess this boar"s life was much nicer, and he ended up being the soul of the party in a thousand year old castle. For an animal, is this the worse way to go?

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:29:38 GMT

Dana this was a really young boar, only 14 months old, and it had been killed the day before, so in total it must have aged 4 days in total. Definitely enough, the meat was succulent and tender! For the trichinosis I think there must be some testing, apparently in most countries only a handful of cases are reported every year, and some countries like Germany serve raw-pork dishes.

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:26:33 GMT

Jason thanks a lot for your kind words! Game in the refrigerator can unsettle some people, that"s for sure!

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:21:22 GMT

Iamnotachef, I am told that trichinosis is an efficient was to lose weight and I might try it. Now apparently the parasite is prevalent where boars are fed other boars, and somehow I can"t see this happening for semi-wild boars in France, where roasted wild boar is considered best served rare. But clearly, there is a small risk. I conclude that we should hold wakes and eat only boars with the most impeccable pedigrees.

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:17:57 GMT

David, I am not sure if every boar spit-roasted in France looks exactly like this one, but in my book it really should. Simple and delicious, making the boar the center of the meal- you can"t beat that!

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:16:47 GMT

Real Chiffonade (I hope that"s you!), this indeed is much like Citizen Kane although I can"t say that my visit of Hearst castle impressed me as much as Hattonchatel, but I guess he must be thanked for having provided at least one tourist sight on the road between Frisco and LA!

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:15:25 GMT

Mike I hope nobody was offended by my little religious jokes, after all holding a wake for a wild boar in the Bishop of Verdun"s former home might be acceptable only on the Day of the Fools!