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Going Whole Hog

KQED Food Staff
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I came across Kate Hill's French Kitchen Adventures sometime this week and, intrigued by her story -- she lives on a barge docked in a canal in Southwest France -- I spent a little time poking around.

What kept me reading more than the barge thing is her clear adoration for all things Fergus. Fergus Henderson, that is -- the whole-beast advocate and owner-chef at St. John Restaurant in London.

In honor of Fergus, and of San Antonio Abate's feast day on January 17, Kate and Judy started a new blog -- Going Whole Hog.

San Antonio Abate with his barnyard friends

The blog is notable not for its focus on all things porcine -- after all, there's no shortage of pig-loving blogging brethren. What I like is the "Fridays with Fergus" feature -- where she cooks something from Henderson's cookbook, "Nose to Tail Eating." The oven roasted brined pork belly sounded (and looked) especially delicious.

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I had an unforgettable meal at St. John Restaurant in December. Fergus himself was there, wearing a shiny new medal. In a very goofy American-tourist moment I asked him to sign a menu for me. Here's a photo of him -- he's the one in the round glasses.

(Of course you want to know what I ate, but sadly I have few pictures to display. The famed marrow bones with parsley salad were an unctuous delight; the oxtail was meltingly delicious. The most revelatory dish, though, was the eccles cake -- a quite savory raisin pie, served with a healthy chunk of delicious Lancashire cheese.)

Kate and Judy have named this weekend Slow Pig Blogging Weekend. They say: "Devote some or all of the weekend of Jan 14-15 to preserving, preparing, photographing or just writing about a favorite dish featuring the other white meat, send us the link to your porky post by Sunday night the 15th and we'll post the participants on Jan 17th in honor of San Antonio Abate day." I'm looking forward to the results.

At least one Bay Area blogger is getting in on the piggy action: Sam has posted some very meaty photos -- the raw materials for her Slow Pig fest.

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