STEINBACH, MAN. THE CARILLON n C5
www.thecarillon.com n
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2024
Agriculture Now
WES KEATING THE CARILLON
Joanne Froese gives museum manager Robert Goertzen a demonstration of the way to remove the pig’s skin.
to be used as needed. The pioneers ate everything else on a seasonal basis or canned it to save meat that way. Today, it goes into the freezer. The lard was used for baking or headed for the fryer to make those delicious donuts Mennonites are known for. A hog producer who visited the ta- ble was asked about his favorite part of raising pigs. His reply was that it was when the raising of the pig was done and it was in the oven roasting. And just like the pioneers, who, out of necessity, used every part of the animal, today’s cooks appreciate the flavour added by pork bones. Nathan Dueck, who stopped by to chat with the Froeses, said he likes to use pigs’ feet as an ingredient for the base when he makes Ramen. The popular Japanese soup has a hard-to-describe flavour of its own, adding “umami”, (a pleasant savory taste), to the usual salty, sweet, sour or bitter. And where better place than the museum grounds where a multicul- tural theme was the order of the day to pick up a cooking tip combining cultures. Alongside the traditional Russian Mennonite ethnic food in the Livery Barn Restaurant, Fall in the Farm Day visitors had their choice of foods of half a dozen different cultures. Food vendors included Chinese spring rolls, Filipino eats, Paraguay- an dishes, Columbian cuisine, Nige- rian delicacies, and dishes served up by the Indian Spice Club. And along with the traditional pi- oneer demonstrations ranging from threshing to flour milling, a cultures stage featured entertainers repre- senting nine different ethnic groups. Museum interim executive direc- tor Robert Goertzen says this year’s Fall on the Farm program was an ef- fort to make everyone feel welcome at the museum. Mennonite Heritage Village is not just about Menno- nites and provides an opportuni- ty to share that culture and history with so many people of other back- grounds, he said. A popular social event for the early pioneers was the farm auction and the Mennonite Heritage Village took the opportunity to include a small sample again this year. In the past, a fund-raising auc- tion of donated items was an annual event at the museum, but recently it has been a way to cap off the sum- mer for the museum’s pork produc- ers. In the spring, a local producer do- nates three weanlings to the muse-
WES KEATING THE CARILLON Bill Froese demonstrates his barbering skills, using a sharp knife to shave the bristles from a pig’s head as the first step to making head cheese.
When the Froese family were fin- ished their demonstration, the area was cleaned up and the government inspected cut and wrapped pork from the other two carcasses was auctioned off by Ron Kornelson. This is good quality pork and peo- ple are happy to be generous in their bidding, and the auction usually raises between $1,000 and $1,500 for the museum, Goertzen said. This is a small version of the farm auction that used to be a social event, where neighbors got togeth- er to support the family holding the auction. The auctioneer creates an at- mosphere of friendly competition among bidders, adding a festive note to the occasion.
um and the summer is spent raising the animals to market weight, Goert- zen explains. The pigs spend the summer in a pen, and outdoor shelter with straw, on the museum grounds, getting fed and interacting with visitors to the museum. Sometimes, when they are lucky, the pigs are treated to kitchen scraps and garden waste. By the end of August, the three pigs weighed close to 200 pounds. They were butchered and two of the carcasses were cut and wrapped at a government inspected facility. The third carcass, as has been the case for about 15 years, was delivered to the museum grounds by the Bill Fro- ese family, who spent the day show- ing visitors how the animal is cut up, how bacon is prepared, how crackles are made, how sausage is ground up and hams are smoked.
WES KEATING THE CARILLON Mary Goertzen, a welcome volunteer, drove in from Gimli early in the morning to give the Froese family a hand with their butchering efforts during Fall on the Farm Day.
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