Yet for approximately seven years ‘Matança do Porco’ by farmers for domestic consumption was illegal. This had a huge impact in the Algarve where most farmers run sustainable farms. Reading various reports of the time it seems the laws were clandestinely ignored by some. Their reasons were understandable – firstly by 2007 there was only one slaughterhouse in the region and so it didn’t make socio-economic sense for many families, and secondly there was a strong desire not to lose the traditional skills of slaughtering and butchering domestic pigs. Fortunately the lawmakers eventually recognised how important some traditions of subsistence farming are, and in 2014 it became legal again for individuals to slaughter their own pigs of less than 12months old for domestic consumption.
It is quite an event slaughtering the pig. The size of the animals and the skills involved to humanely kill and butcher them require many people. Traditionally it is the men who take responsibility for the slaughtering and butchering, and the women who clean and prepare the insides to make sausages, and also prepare the food for the collective meal that follows the slaughter. The morning begins of course with the killing of the pig. Once killed and the blood collected, the pigs are scorched and then shaved to remove their hair.
Once shaved they are washed down with cold water, and then transferred to a hook or ladder for the first deep longitudinal cut. It took five of them to complete the transfer of our friend’s pig, these are big pigs. The pig is then cut straight down its middle to enable them to remove all the fat and offal. As this is a sustainable economy it was all kept, the fat will be used to make lard and the offal for speciality dishes and sausages. What struck me – is the physical hard work involved, that at the same time is a very skilled process. We observed different men leading different parts of the process, with the older ones generally taking on the more skilled work. Everyone though was needed and it was very apparent they all had a clear role. Our friend told us that each farm/household with pigs in their local community is visited in turn for their own ‘Matança do Porco’ which explains the butchering expertise and superb teamwork as well as the wonderful atmosphere. Great for the pigs as well as the community!
They killed and butchered two pigs but unfortunately, because there were only a few women present, were only able to utilise the intestines of one of the pigs. The intestines of the second pig were thrown away.