Germany 2011: Spanferkel, or "Pig on a Spit"

In Germany, the culinary event about which I was most excited was definitely Spanferkel, or suckling pig.  Sandra's uncle Reiner (the mushroom man) built the rotisserie himself!  How cool is that?!

We rocked up to Reiner's house in the afternoon, finding delicious smoky smells and the following marquee set up in the backyard.  Squee!!

The marquee

The meat had been injected with a saline solution to keep it moist, and hung for a few days before cooking.  It took about six hours in total to cook.  The pig was rotating slowly the whole while, gently cooking in the heat of the wood fire.

It got sprayed with beer throughout the cooking process, to stop the skin from burning before it was cooked all the way through.

Hehe... how many Germans does it take to roast a pig?

"I built that"

And finally, it was time to eat!

One of Reiner's friends is a professional butcher, who broke down the pig in no time!

The meat was super tender, and really tasty - I loved it!

Now, meat is great, but so are salads!  (You can see my beer and my plate of food on the bottom of the table.)

Top row: Carrot Salad; Potato Salad
Middle row: Pasta Salad; Pea & Leek Salad
Bottom row: Spaghetti Salad; Pear, Avocado and Sunflower Salad

It was all so delicious!  And there was sooo much food - there were about 20 guests and there were still heaps of leftovers!

We'd brought some desserts as well: Käsekuchen (made by Sandra's mum)...

Cheesecake

... and a sunken apple cake (made by me!)

Apple Cake

It was a wonderful smoky, meaty, beer-filled afternoon. A perfect relaxing day!