Slovak food is comfort food. It’s not light, it’s not summery, but in the winter – it’s peasant food. Food that sticks to your bones and gives you a lot of energy to work in the fields. It’s simple; there’s a limited repertoire of spices. A lot of them involve just very ordinary ingredients. – Naomi
Get your marjoram and paprika ready, because the long-anticipated pig butchery interview is here! In this episode, Alison sits down with Naomi, a Canadian-born photographer and home cook who has lived in, immersed in and documented Slovakia for the past 17 years. Naomi shares about the experience of traditional Slovakian pig butchery including unique recipes, the secret to non-liver-tasting-paté (!!!) and more. To indulge in Naomi’s incredible food photography and to find the recipes she mentions, check out the links in Resources!
Soup is a staple here. Traditionally, they had it every day for lunch. Naomi
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Going and living in a place is really the only way you get to learn that every place has it’s bonuses, but also every place has its frustrations as well. Alison
Time Stamps
You don’t actually need a lot of fancy equipment – a table, lots of knives, big things for mixing in. Naomi
01:17 What Naomi Ate
13:18 What Alison Ate
17:11 Introducing Naomi
17:25 How Alison met Naomi
18:43 Growing up in Canada
22:06 Life in Slovakia
23:50 Food in Slovakia and how it has changed
29:00 Do you miss Canada?
31:18 Let’s talk about Slovakian pig butchering!
34:04 The season for pig butchering
A fair amount of fruit schnapps is also consumed during this process, it’s an integral part of it! Naomi
36:25 Starting the pig butchering
39:40 The cutting
41:45 Lunch on butchering day
41:59 The organs: creating a traditional sausage
44:40 The underchin!
I absolutely heartily recommend having a go at those lard biscuit things! Alison
46:38 The lard and pagac (cracklin biscuits)
It’s a great winter food – it’s really full of energy and will keep you full for a long time. Naomi
53:25 The pig’s blood: black pudding and blood sausages
55:30 The taste of blood
This is something that doesn’t keep very well and it doesn’t freeze very well; so, they put it into bowls and share it with the neighbors. Naomi, sharing about black pudding
47:35 Headcheese
01:00:20 Nightfall
01:01:40 Dinner
01:02:50 The muscle meat
01:03:30 The secret to non-liver-tasting pate
01:04:30 Canned meat
01:04:44 The skin
01:07:00 Naomi’s favorite dish from the butchering
01:09:05 Cleaning up
01:10:41 Memories and looking to the future
01:21:00 If we want to make these recipes … where do we look?
01:22:25 An eBook on traditional Slovakian soups
01:22:55 A version of strapacki on the blog
01:25:30 Naomi’s favorite blog posts [under Slovakia or Recipes]
01:28:00 Naomi’s blog & Instagram
Resources Mentioned
Pretty much the toenails, and if we haven’t cleaned out the intestines then those too, get thrown away. Naomi
Anyone who gets excited by traditional recipes and beautiful photography, will want to have a look at your site. Alison
Potatoes, Bacon and Sauerkraut: Traditional Slovakian Dumplings (Strapačky)
If someone wants to start eating sauerkraut and it’s too strong for them, it’s a really good way to work into it. Naomi, talking about
Katie Bowman, movement specialist
A Slovak Pig Butchering Part I
Rice and Offal Sausages: Slovak Jaterničky
Mäkké Oškvarkové Pagáče: soft lard crackling biscuits
Best Beef Liver Pâté … “This beef liver pâté recipe is delicious, thanks to an unexpected spice that magically does away with the liver taste. Even beef liver, which has a stronger taste, can be enjoyed by liver haters.”
How to Cook Brains: Slovak Mozgy
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Original Music, Episode Mixing and Post-Production by Robert Michael Kay