La Matanza: A Traditional Spanish Pig Slaughter

In a world of shrink-wrapped sirloin steaks and lips-and-hooves sausages, it’s refreshing to go back to the source of our meat. A matanza, or traditional Spanish pig slaughter, might turn a few stomachs, but it’s less grotesque than how disconnected we’ve become from our meat and choosey we’ve grown about which cuts we’ll eat and which bits we’ll toss in the bin. Here, I meet Joaquin and his mother Pilar as they kill a couple of pigs, take them apart, and – making use of every last morsel of gut, muscle and fat – keep themselves in pork for a year.