This is the slogan of Las Laous, the pig farm where we have spent the last 7 weeks getting involved in sperm to plate farming. Sounds delicious right? Well you would be correct, their pork is the tastiest pork I’ve ever had on my fork – so good in fact that we consumed it at least once a day for seven weeks.
Emily and Justin are a couple who found a piece of nirvana in the Ariège about 10 years ago and bought that shit. They knew zilch about farming, let alone farming on the side of a mountain that’s covered in snow during winter. But with a lot of trial and error and sheer pig headedness they have created something really special. These are truly well looked after animals, who spend the days with the sun on their back, rooting around in the ground, lying in mud and having sex. What more could they ask for?
We found Emily and Justin’s farm through HelpX – a website that links people who want help, with people who want to help. We couldn’t wait to get into the mountains and taste some of this pork we had heard so much about. I arrived sans Wax – he was cooking for billionaires in the Greek Islands whilst I was about to get knee deep in pig shit. We both agreed that I was the luckier one. On my first day Emily and I were at a wedding serving a pig that had been slow cooked for 12 hours. My god, I’d never tasted pork like it – the fat especially tasted so dam good I could’ve eaten it by the spoonful… and I may have.
My days were filled with all sorts of jobs on the farm – feeding the pigs, checking fences, fixing water pipes, dropping off and picking up pigs from the local abattoir, castrating piglets, being ever so patient trying to get pigs into the trailer, moving cows from field to field, weeding the veggie garden, helping the butcher in the chop shop, killing flies, organising Justin, piglet midwife, mucking out the barn etc. Even though I grew up on a farm I never really knew what my Dad and Uncle got up to during the day whilst I was at school being all busy. I assumed they mainly drove around in the ute drinking tea and eating cake. But apparently not. Farming is a never ending to do list and I like it. I like the feeling of using my body to work (in a non-hooker way) and being absolutely buggered at the end of the day. I also like pigs. They’re the best.
Keeping the farm sorted is just one piece of the pie. There is also the weekly Saturday market in Saint Girons. They sell fresh meat that has been butchered at the farm, plus they cook sausages and have pulled pork sandwiches. There’s also an odd catering gig here and there – weddings, festivals and tractor parades. This adds a whole new layer to the already busy life of E + J. Oh did I mention they have six year old twin girls – Thea and Myla. Life’s very hectic for these famers.
Great friendships have been made during our time at the farm and since we’re suckers for punishment we’re heading back at the end of the month to help them with a three day festival in the mountains!
If you want to read a bit more about Las Laous, they have a banging website here.
