Potrerillos Pig Fest

Parque Suizo was a hive of activity as we all packed up for the short trip to Potrerillos. The Remotelys (as we now affectionately call them, aka Jared, Jessica and Kobus) were off to pick up the pig, while we went off in search of some wire (to attach the pig to the grill) before converging on the campsite that Evelyn and Ben had found for us. ‘Mike the Biker’ was also on his way.

By the time we were all at the campsite it was after midday and definitely time to get the pig on the BBQ. We were the last to arrive, being that much slower, and since we were carrying the re-modelled shopping trolley the pig had to wait on us.

This is when Jared really fired into action and quickly wired the pig to the grill, which we had scrubbed clean in the river at the bottom of the campsite. Kobus built a fire and when it was ready the Frankenstein shopping cart grill was put into action. It wasn’t long before we realised that there wasn’t enough wood but Kobus and Mike drove out and came back with a pile of free wood that they had weasled out of some locals.

Meanwhile Jessica was preparing a whole pile of snack food for the day and working hard on the side dishes for the evening meal.

We were not idle either as Sarah made a few batches of empanadas to cook in our dutch oven – using sausages we had cooked the previous night and cheese as the filling (A Remotely’s recipe and very tasty too!).

We were delighted and a little surprised when they turned out practically perfectly – beginners luck or simply good instruction from our culinary friends! They made great snacks for the afternoon as we waited for the pig to be ready.

It seems that it takes a long time for a pig to cook over a fire and we were all getting a little restless. By 9pm we were ready to throw Jared on the fire, grill and eat him! He finally relented and agreed to take the pig off the fire for the chow down to commence.

We all sat down around our collection of tables for the feast and my god it was good. As Brits we don’t know much about Thanksgiving but it seems to me that a lot of it is about stuffing your face with great food (much like Christmas at home). I definitely approve. The meal was fantastic and the sides that Jessica had prepared – mashed potato, stuffing, gravy and a whole bunch of veggies were also amazing. All of this was washed down with some amazing Argentinian wine.

A big shout out to www.liferemotely.com for masterminding an amazing dinner and introducing some non-Americans to Thanksgiving.

Jared in particular really showed his skills both in cooking the pig and in knowing exactly how to carve it up. These guys really are the masters of campfire cooking.