THE IBERIAN PIG-KILLING ,PUERTO PEÑAS (AROCHE)

Winter in the Puerto Peñas is not only characteristic by the visit of tourists and cold weather, but also by the traditional "matanza" ritual (Iberian pig-killing).

“This one is more that the simple slaughter of the most popular animal in this area of Huelva and the most demanded in Spanish butchers.Hundreds of families of the Sierra meet in winter months for two days to elaborate delicious products from the Iberian pig they have been feeding during the previous months in the pasturelands.The first day of the ‘matanza’ begins very early.

Puerto Peñas "Matanza" 20-12-2003

When everything is ready, relatives and friends meet to help in the slaughter of several fat Iberian pigs.The different works in the slaughter are divided in two: women and men’s works. Men are in charge of the pig killing. Some of them take the pig from the ‘cochinera’ (pigsty) using steel strings to avoid the animal running away.

Others wait outside to put the pig over the ‘banco’ (a wooden table used to put the pig on and kill it) of the ‘matarife’ (slaughter man). These are the most intense scenes of the ‘matanza’ in which strength is essential.

This is the authentic image of the fight between the animal and the man.Once the pig is over the ‘banco’, several men try to immobilize it, that will fight to avoid its final destiny. The ‘matarife’ will kill the pig with a mortal cut in the throat. In the meanwhile, the ‘gandinguera’ (the woman who elaborates the ‘chacinas’) collects the blood that she will use later to do ‘morcillas’ (blood sausages).

The next step is to scorch the pig. Men burn the dark superficial skin of the pig and its hard bristles. Some young men will scrape off the scorched skin to leave the pig ready to be quartered. Then the ‘matarife’ will sharpen his knives to slit open the pig, eviscerate it and take out not only the hams and shoulders, but also ‘solomillos’ (sirloins), ‘caña de lomo’ (loin), ribs and many other cuts. There is a popular saying that affirms that you can use everything from the pig.The sanitary aspect plays an important role in the popular ‘matanza’.

The pigs are subjected to a blood analysis before being killed and disfruonce killed its entrails, lungs and liver are also analysed. These proves try to determine the presence of trichina and other illnesses whose existence would give place to confiscation of the meat.Once the animals are quartered the ‘gandingueras’ and their assistants start their job.

They will take the intestines, wash them profusely and leave them stand one day in salt, vinegar, even lemon in some cases. Although they use the intestines from the pig, the quantity of seasoned meat to make sausages could be bigger, so that it is necessary to buy other tripe.Meanwhile the ‘matarifes’ are quartering and classifying all the cut meats and preparing them to be moved.

These meats will be assigned to different purposes depending on the needs of the family: either to the consumption through he year or transformed to make Iberian ‘chacinas’. As they work on it, hams, shoulders and other pieces hang to cool.But the ‘matanza’ in the Sierra is not only a job.

The celebration of this traditional ritual is closely related to popular gastronomy too. There is always somebody in charge of a fire to grill meat from killed animal. And as in a feast at home, the hosts use to invite some friends to enjoy and taste the pig products. They will meet in a farm and will live the typical ‘matanza’ atmosphere: rooms full of basins, trays of meat, buckets with blood and fresh hams hanging.After a break to have lunch, everybody continues his or her job. In that afternoon they will mince the meat to elaborate ‘chorizos’ (pork sausages), ‘morcillas’ (blood sausages) and ‘salchichones’ (spiced sausages) as well as ‘morcillas tontas’ (sausages made of meat, blood, oregano, salt, parsley and nutmeg cooked and hung to cure).

At the end of the afternoon all the minced meat is seasoned.

The success of the final product and the satisfaction of the consumer depends on its ingredients and the curing process. Although it is seasoned in different ways in each town and village of the Sierra, all of them have the same basic ingredients.The ‘salchichones ibéricos’ (spiced sausages) are made of the best meat of the pig, even the shoulders, nutmeg, black pepper, salt and white wine.

The ‘chorizo rojo’ (red sausage) is also made of minced meat, salt, aniseed, sweet red pepper, hot red pepper and grinded garlic. However, the ‘morcilla’ (blood sausage) is made of the heart and the belly, seasoned with aniseed, garlic, pepper and the proceblood taken when the pig was killed.Once all the ingredients and the meat are ready, it is thrown into a basin and mixed by skilful hands to get the ‘miga’ to make sausages.When this process has finished it has to settle all the night to make the meat get the flavour of the seasoning.

The second day of the ‘matanza’ the ‘gandingueras’ will make the sausages while the hams will be removed the skin doing a V cut. Then the pre-saltin-g process is carried out. Again women and men will make different jobs. Women will take charge of the ‘chacinas’.

They will use a traditional wooden machine with two different parts: the upper part and the lower part, both connected by a hole. In the upper part these women put the ‘miga’, and in the lower one the intestines or tripe they will use to make sausages. In the process they follow to make these products it is very important that sausages be pricked with a needle, once their ends have been tied, to allow a better curing process.The ‘matarife’ will pay attention to the hams and shoulders.

He will put them in salt for 21 days and then he will hang them. In the meanwhile he will trim most of the remaining fat and will bleed them again with a massage, to avoid any further problems in the curing.

Once they are salted they are moved to the cellars and best ventilated rooms of the house where both hams and shoulders will cure slowly until they are ready to be tasted in a special event.In spite of modern process to cure the hams in ‘Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche’, we still keep alive our traditions and customs. It is an identity sign for all of us who live here: the ‘matanza’, the Iberian pig products, the social events around it, and the family.” (Revista Entorno Natural).