We just came back from New Orleans - a lovely repast with old and best friends. Amongst the pervasive joie de vivre and many fabulous meals, the meal at award winning Cochon, where I ordered a Pigs Head for dinner for four (a week ahead of time please and thank you very much), was a MOST memorable experience. The unctuousness of the various flavors of flesh and skin was beyond compare. Cochon sources from a free range farm, this pig being a cross of Duroc and Berkshire, who lived a happy live and died a good death, in the service of US. Friend's reactions to this prompted me to remember a blog I wrote years ago which pertains to this experience. Please enjoy!:

I'm a pig lover. I love how they look, I love how they sound, I love how they roll around blissfully in grass, or mud, or whatever's available. I love their intelligence and their sense of community. I love that they can hunt in packs and cooperate. I love that they are omnivores. I love their wildness (ancestry the Eurasian Wild Boar), their independence, and their single-mindedness. I love their affection. I also love how they taste. If you are an animal lover but don't understand the love of an animal's flesh, read no further, please - I do not wish to offend.

I love bacon. Inspiration for this blog came from waking up to the smell of frying bacon. My wonderful husband makes me breakfast in bed from time to time. He serves me an egg from dad's farm, however I want it, his homemade bread toasted and buttered, and bacon or sausage - whatever we're in the mood for. This comes with a glass of cold, free range, hormone and antibiotic-free milk.

I want you to love whatever part of the pig you love. The chop, the bbq (shoulder), the ribs, the ham, the ears (crispy thank you!) the head (hogs head cheese, by the way, is not cheese, but a chunky country pate) the trotters (that would be their feet - full of collagen to make the most unctuous sauces and gravies). The belly - cured or uncured, smoked or unsmoked - this is where bacon comes from. Bacon is cured and usually smoked.

Don't be put off by the "nose to toes" love of an animal - it is respect that calls us to utilize every part of an animal that we possibly can to honor its life and its service to us - including the skin, fur, and offal.

The next time you buy bacon, buy bacon from a pig that's lived well and died well. It costs twice as much. It's worth it. Have two pieces of bacon instead of four. Respect the pig. Respect yourself!

From the kitchen of a VERY philosophical (at least this morning) Lula's Catering www.lulasforlunch.com

Salad Season!

Is HERE! Lula's is excited for our spring and summer offerings of Caprese, Chilled Citrus Haricots Verts with our garden Tarragon, and MANY MORE! I know you are TOO!