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Celebrate the Festival of the Pig and Salami Season the Aussie Way

Celebrate the Festival of the Pig and Salami Season the Aussie Way

by Mireille Kilgour

Each year in the month of August, a festival is held in the town of Trie-sur-Baise in south-western France. La Pourcailhade (also known as La Fete du Cochon or Festival of the Pig) was first held in 1975 and is organised by La Confrerie du Cochon – the brotherhood of the pig.

La Pourcailhade involves displays, pig races, eating contests and a range of other competitions. Among the most popular is "Le Championnat de France du Cri de Cochon", in which contestants imitate the squeal of a pig to signify the different stages of a pig's life. Starting with the squeals of newly arrived piglets, contestants will cover a whole gamut of pivotal moments in the pen, eventually rounding it up with a final 'this is the end' grunt.

If you love the smell of pork, you would be in seventh heaven as you stroll the Trie Sur Baise, once the country's largest pig market. The rich aroma of roast pork and crackling fills the air and gives a much needed boost to the declining pig-farming industry. Shop windows are decorated with pigs, waiters open wine with pigtail corkscrews and banqueters dive into an unforgettable feast. For those not settled entirely on pork, the chance to enter the black pudding eating competition could whet your appetite.

La Pourcailhade is a lot of fun and the good news is, you don't need to travel to France to enjoy it. Many other countries are joining in to celebrate the pig, Australia being one of them. At De Bortoli Estate, the Celebration of the Pig will see its Locale restaurant transformed into a rustic shed where it will serve platters of antipasto and salumi, followed by roasted suckling pig and winter vegetables. The celebration combines both La Pourcailhade and the end of salami season, which started in Melbourne in early June. Since then, the back sheds of many restaurants and suburban homes have been filled with kids, adults and the old as they come together to stuff sausages and hang them from the rafters during the cold months. Now it's nearing Spring, those sausages should be nicely cured and ready to become part of tasty antipasto plates.

Locale at De Bortoli is a popular place for dining, with its picturesque surroundings and Italian-inspired cuisine. Situated in the Yarra Valley, atop a hill that overlooks the verdant vines that produce some of region's best loved wine, Locale focuses on food designed around local and seasonal produce. Much like the De Bortoli family, Locale centres itself on its rich Italian heritage and as you know, Italian's love their pork. Help them celebrate salami season and La Pourcailhade by washing down some mouth watering pork with a carafe of wine straight from the barrel.

Celebration of the Pig will be held at De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate on August 22nd, 2014. Tickets cost just $85 pp and include a three course meal and wines.

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Mireille Kilgour

Mireille Kilgour has been an entrepreneur for 35 years in the hospitality sector. French born, she has been an accomplished business owner and operator for a number of Sydney venues. Leading the industry with high profile institutions such as Lamrock Café Bondi, she has endless passion for the industry, and now has the pleasure of supporting restaurants to fill their tables with the new Good Food Gift Card program.