Ugh!
There are so many stories of the Christmas Eve dinner, La Vigilia, that I need not re-do what has been written so often. But this is one that may be a little different.
My Dad was one who tried many things when he went to a restaurant. I thought it was something he acquired as he got older, but as I think of the Christmas Eve dinner, I remember his most ardent request at that time… pickled pigs feet. It was his only time and only chance to have them.
Yes, my Dad loved pickled pigs feet and the only time my Mom would tolerate it was at Christmas. So she bought them.
“Peter. You know it’s not fish.”
“Of course I do, Anna. But I love them. And they are close to fish because they’re white. You know… La Vigilia in bianco.”
“Oh, get off,” she replied… and complied.
Off he went to a corner of the kitchen, sat with a mopine in his lap, opened the jar and pulled out the feet one at a time. He devoured his delicacy before the others arrived. Delicacy?
I could not even look at him as he ate these white things with toes and maybe a little hair.
My grandmother weighed in. “Livva him alone. Let him hav-a whatta he wanza.”
And we did. He tried. And he savored.
Off we went to the dining room for La Vigilia, Dad just a few bites behind.
© 2016
Ed:
My dad loved them too.
Thanks, Al
Well, that particular dish is one of my favorites and as a matter of fact, I partook on Saturday! Today however there is only one foot in the jar because farmers are feeding the pigs longer. Kepp these stories coming!
XOXOX
Thank you, Karen. Why am I not surprised that someone who ate kangaroo would love pickled pigs feet?
Ed,
This story brings back memories of my Dad as well who, like your Dad, liked to eat pigs feet. I just don’t remember if was at Christmas or whenever my Mom would get them for him. Thanks for writings, they bring back those more simple times in our lives.
Rich
Thanks, Rich. I am so pleased to rekindle memories of your Dad… such a fine man. Merry Christmas and Happy New year.
But I still don’t get the pigs feet…no way…
I agree with you Karen. It’s a very popular dish in Tobago. Every party has a little kiosque where they sell pickled pigs feet or chicken feet. They call it sauce (pronounced sowss)
It’s off to Tobago for me, but not for the feet.
My dad loved “pig’s feet”, and as much as my dad liked them my mom loathed them! She actually would go to my grandmothers next door for tea just so she didn’t have to be in these same room with them. I remember they came in a glass jars, she even separated them from the rest of the can goods!!
Quite the same in our family, June.
Merry Christmas.
My grandmother made them. It was also popular with Slovak families. Me, I would have none of it. I went for the potato and cheese filled pierogis.
I’m with you. By the way, Diane and I went to a great Polish restaurant in Fall River; Patti’s Pierogis. Delicious!
My father loved them, but knew never to bring them into the house. Years later, when I was tasked with teaching medical students how to suture, we would buy pigs’ feet for practice. I soon learned not to buy the store out of their entire supply since people wanted them for food and to flavor sauces and they weren’t easy to get anymore!
Love it. An edible teaching tool.
Ed, my father would have them every Saturday. Ugh. We would all go into the living room until he finished the pigs feet. Just the looks of them made us sick. Then he would start on the pickled eggs. The house would stink to the high heavens. He would just laugh at us. Lol. Good old Silver Lake..
Amazing to me how many people liked pigs feet. My guess is that it came from years ago, tough times perhaps, when people ate everything on the pig. Ugh indeed.
Were our fathers the last to enjoy pigs feet?
Dr. Ed, to answer your question, no, I also have the pigs feet craving acquired from my Father and Grandfather ( Canucks). Pigs hocks are also high on my snack list.
Thanks for rattling these memories from the past.
Thank you, Frank. Good luck with the feet and the hocks. You can have all mine and enjoy a Merry Christmas.
My mom loved these also. She was Irish and grew up poor. So I’m wondering if it was a cheap meal back in the day. No one else in the family liked these at all. However I enjoyed the tripe she served on occasion.
Yes, it was inexpensive. I cannot even handle the tripe!
Oh Ed! This is a complete throw back to Sunday dinners at my Babciu’s (grandmother’s) house where the wonderful cooking aromas would greet us at the front door. Pierogis, galumkis, kapusta soup, pigs feet . . . Wait a minute!! Did someone say pigs feet???? My dad would nosh on them right down to the bones!!! Ick is an understatement but Babciu always made sure Dad had them – along with more edible items for the rest of us!!
Thanks, Karen. Pleased I jogged your memories. But…pig’s feet???
Looking at that picture, I can’t believe I ate pickled pigs’ feet when I was a child. Also ate pigs’ tails cooked in gravy (aka tomato sauce)!!!! What was I thinking?!?!?!?!?
Gad, I agree. What were you thinking?
My father also loved Pickled Pigs Feet and when I was younger, he would give some to me and I actually enjoyed them. He also liked Ox Tail soup and something called Head Cheese which is not actual cheese, but something made from the head of a Pig (I know kind of gross). On another note My wife’s father use to eat Pickled lambs tongue. Hopefully this is not grossing any one out, but people still eat a lot of things that most of think of as kind of gross.
Oh boy, lucky you, I guess.
As a new bride one of the first things my husband requested (actually the only thing) was pigs feet. My family, as far as I knew, never ate them and I never even saw one. I did not even know what they were. When he explained them to me, I was horrified. Image, eating pigs feet! Ugh! Found them in the market and was disgusted by their looks. My husband ate them with vim and vigor. Like you I could not watch him while he ate.
I’m with you, Mary Ann. Who, I might ask, requests pig’s feet these days?
Just the other day I was telling a friend that when I was a kid, I loved pickled-pigs-feet. I haven’t eaten them in years, but as I was growing up they were a treat I savored. They were a staple in our pantry sitting on the shelf in their Horrnel jar by the olives and pickles that my mom could pull out to serve with the hams and cheeses for those Sunday-evening-visitors who stopped by. What amazes me is how did I get tempted to try them? I was a picky eater in those days. I did love salty, vinegary foods and another favorite food was raw clams with Tabasco and lemon juice – but pickled-pigs-feet!! I’m going to look for them the next time I shop and maybe I’ll try them again just to see if my tastes have changed. Another absolute favorite of mine that was on our table every Christmas Eve was stockfish broiled and made into a salad with oil, lemon, parsley and hot pepper. Stockfish is similar to baccala. It’s a dried rather than salted cod that has to soak for days and has a nasty smell but a glorious taste. I wonder what tempted me to try these foods?
Quite an adventuresome lass you were, Barbara. You have tastes that I never developed and now wish I had. Too old to try?