Yesterday Besh and I were fortunate enough to be invited over to cousin Brian, Elaine, and Eitan’s house for dinner. What made it so awesome was that cousin Brian, a gourmet chef in his spare time, had purchased an entire pig to roast and was having people over to partake.
One bit of Texas culture I’ve happily embraced for myself and Besh is barbeque. The day Besh was cleared to eat meat we went to Hut’s that night but drove to Lockhart the next morning for brisket. When we go to BBQ he’ll happily eat brisket and pork loin but his favorite is turkey these days.
Still, this was something that couldn’t be missed. But on the drive over, I started to get a bit nervous. This would likely be the first time Besh connected meat with animals. It’s a connection I’m not squeamish about, but I was concerned he would be. So I decided to have a chat with him.
Me: “Besh, you know where we’re going?”
Besh: “Cousin Eitan’s.”
“That’s right. Do you know why?”
“Why?”
“You know how cousin Brian is an amazing chef?”
“Of course.”
“He’s roasting an entire pig!”
“You mean the animal?” Uh-oh, I thought.
“Yes, the animal. You know how we eat pork loin at barbeque?”
“Yes.”
“And do you like bacon?”
“Oh yes.”
“Well, pork and bacon all come from pigs.”
He thought about this a second, then said “Awesome.”
Sighing with relief and smiling, off we went to cousin Eitan’s house (which he happily lets his parents co-habitate).
Once there, the entire group patiently awaited the pig’s completion, and when it finally emerged it sat on the counter to rest. (It’d had a really rough day.) I asked Besh if he wanted to see it and he ran in and tried to pet it’s roasted snout, then pulled back because it was hot. He didn’t give it a second glance before going back to play with the other kids until dinner was ready.
At dinner, he was loving the bits of pork I gave him (tenderloin, shoulder, etc.). He made me go back and get him more meat two times, a record for him since he’s only ever asked for more once and that was at Smitty’s (good boy). He was loving the meat so much he started some of the kids in a screaming chant of “Cousin Brian is the best chef EVER!”
By the second time I went back for Besh the pickings were getting a bit slim, but I did notice one piece on the table. I absent mindedly wondered what it was since it seemed to have a lot of fat around it, that’s when someone pointed out it was part of the pork belly. I’m used to seeing pork on a plate, not a table, so I happily cut some up for Besh. I took it back to his table and trimmed most of the fat off then gave him a bite to try.
He chewed and chewed and chewed and swallowed. Then he paused.
Me: “How was that?”
He started waving his hands over his stomach and making a rumbling sound which slowly got louder as his hands got higher and higher until they reached his mouth and he flung them out.
Besh: “BOOM! That was so awesome I just exploded!”
Couldn’t agree more.
