Wild Boar in the House

Photo: Jennifer Emerling

A few months back I had arrived at the kitchen around 4 am for reasons explained here. I put on NPR or Sam Cooke, both of those are my favorite morning play lists so either can be heard at that hour when I'm the first to arrive. I tied a crisp apron on, smoothed my hair back into a bun, set up my station and then went about gathering ingredients to knock out my prep list. In our walk-in, I smelled some fruit, picking the prettiest to make an inside out cake like this one, then I pivoted to walk out and.... SCREAMED!!! 

What the heck?? There was a bristle haired, tusk bearing, whole wild boar upon it's back that I had somehow missed when I entered the walk-in. It resembled our pit bull, Charlotte, but much meaner looking. Oh, to see it like that, humbled and still, was a sight to behold. I'm accustomed to whole pigs in our walk in (remember our first one here?), these make me pause only a little, but a wild boar! Sheesh!

It seems a federal agent friend of Matt's enjoys hunting on vineyards and asked him if he would like a wild boar sometime. "Sure," Matt replied. I mean why not, is his thinking.

It was just very early in the morning to be surprised by some thorny beast. Oh, how my heart nearly beat out of my chest, I still remember. In honor of the animal, this pig gone wild, we have preserved it's skin and kept it for hanging. 

It's a showstopper, beware.