Porktober In Ghana
A man had a good view from his abode to the outer space. He watched the street across his house and saw some young men cut up at least three fat pigs. This took place on the roadside after the animal had been slaughtered in the farm’s sty.
This became a repeated scene at weekends, and soon the man was to be a regular viewer of the action. Of course, he must have watched it over a period of time to come to the conclusion that the action of cutting up the carcass of a pig for sale by the roadside was a regular.
Another thing the man realized was the emptied kiosk in close to 3 hours. At the beginning of the exercise at 6 am, Saturdays and Sundays, the meat put on sale is finished, and the young men who sold it packed out. They have made their sales for the day. With the aid of the weighing scale, price tags for each cut-up settled without haggling.
Oh, the Swine business is good.
Pork has greater appeal in the form of intercontinental cuisines. It is exceedingly difficult to deal with the marvelous meat creations of Western Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania, all in this account. The subject could easily fill a lengthy encyclopedia. Pork is particularly noteworthy for its endless appeal to all tastes but Muslims and Judaists who do not consume the meat on religious grounds.
Dedicated meat eaters are ingenious in combining pork with other ingredients in the creation of distinctive national dishes. So the market for pigs is big, very big.
In Ghana, pig meat or pork is getting greater patronage under the banner ”Porktober,” an adaptation of a pork fair or festival in the United States of America. Only the oink is not edible. Patrons consume all other parts including the meat, innards, feet, and even udders of the omnivores animal. Since pigs eat anything that comes their way, be it meat or plants, they are omnivores.
2023 is the third year of Porktober in Ghana. The piggery family made up of association members, entrepreneurs, farmers, sponsors, barbecue sellers, and consumers converge on a common ground to play out their business. Some carcasses are roasted over open fires, others are cooked in cauldrons, made into fricassees, stews, and ragouts, braised in frying pans, or baked in ovens.
Banquets included a fascinating variety of sausages, meat loaves, and meatballs. The most consumed meat worldwide is part of dishes that include greens, oysters, and spices.
We are in October. It is pig-killing time. Processing and consumption of pork are highly encouraged. It is a sales promotion drive to highlight health benefits such as proteins, minerals, and vitamins when pork is eaten. The array of pork products in Ghanaian markets would take only a well-versed buyer to choose among them.
For Porktober to take a foothold in Ghana, the Pig Farmers Association appeals to the government through the relevant agencies to provide slaughterhouses solely for pigs. They also want the month of October to be declared on the national tourism calendar as a month-long pork festival.