Inaugural ‘Pig Pickin’ Potluck’ destined to be a hit

PALMER — This is a Palmer story about Jodie, Randy, a pig, a hand-built speciality cooker and at least one hundred other Palmer peeps. It is a story about cultural revival, togetherness and local sustainability.

The Alaska grown pig was remarkable. He was born at Frozen Oak farm in the Butte and he was raised on Lazy Mountain where he had best views of the valley. He was no ordinary pig. He was a cross Mangalista pig, which means he was both Hungarian and hairy, similar to a wooly sheep. The local breeders were looking for a special, top-of-the-line, pig. This local pig was fed delicious Delta Barley and at a final weight of 170 pounds, the pig went to transition at the McKinley Meat and Sausage facility.

Jodie Anderson and Randy Cole, Palmer residents, are self-admitted foodies. Their joy in life is feeding people. Both have roots in the state of North Carolina, where barbeque is king and where small wars are fought over secret barbeque recipes. Jodie and Randy have started a mobile catering business, Laughing Raven Catering, with a specially made 8-foot cooker, including both grill and smoker. Locally made and fabricated by Greatland Welding, the huge cooker does the low and slow cook or the fast and easy grill. They haul it on a 10-foot trailer and everywhere they go, people’s eyes light up and mouths begin to salivate.

Now this is where the lives of the special pig and the special cooker begin to blend. Our food heroes Jodie and Randy decided that Palmer was in need of some barbeque education. Active in the agricultural community, they reached out to their friends and decided to have an official ‘First Annual Palmer Laughing Raven Pig Pickin’ Potluck and Lie Swappin’ Party,” just like is held—with great regularity—in the southern states.

They studied recipes and adapted regional sauces. The cooking process began on Friday, the night before the event, and the pig slow-roasted throughout the night. Because this is Mangalista pork, it cooks differently. It is considered the “Kobe beef” of the pork world and has a redder meat and a special thick layer of dense fat which is rendered differently than other pork.

Jodie asked many from the community to join them and then came up with the game rules: Everyone contributes food. No one talks politics. Everyone meets someone new and someone old. Interaction from different life cycles is required. And everyone picks their meat right off the pig on the table.

The end result included more than 100 happy guests, delicious meal and a rainbow on the side out at the scenic Louise Kellogg farm, on Farm Loop. On the picnic tables sat large vats of beans and slaws. On side tables sat the pig, halved now, and honored throughout the dinner. Corn bread and sauces, along with fruits and vegetables filled in the spaces, along with pies and cakes. People talked, laughed and tasted the pork from various parts of the animal. They tried the different regional sauces and reckoned the sources and talked about cultures. Everyone was happy at the very first Palmer Pig Pickin, which is bound to be another new delicious Palmer tradition.