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| Le Petit Cochon |
After a tasting with Le Petit Cochon's Gérald Di Pasquale, I could hardly believe Mireille Guiliano's principle, ‘French women don't get fat?’ Gérald and his partners, Christophe Roland and Stephane Chesneau have been living in South Africa for the past 15 years, working in various industries from business to media and architecture but it is their combined passion for excellent food and French heritage that brought them together to create the french-style charcuterie Le Petit Cochon (The Little Pig).
Le Petit Cochon use century-old farmers methods of preserving food with two main techniques. The first is Salaison (curing with salt) and the second is through air drying. In traditional Bucherie-Charcuterie (butchers and meat deli's) butchers separate the prime cuts for the butchery and then process the rest of the meat into other products. Le Petit Cochon use the whole animal for their produce which is made without preservatives, additives and flavour enhancers resulting in a far superior product. Gérald tends to shy away from the current ‘organic’ theme but classifies the process as “natural and artisanal”.
Le Petit Cochon process pork, duck, goose and rabbit meat into Pâtés (various meats are mixed together with fat into a fine texture) and Rillettes (a particular meat is shredded and cooked in its own fat similar to Confit). With the availability of game in South Africa, Le Petit Cochon extended their range to include kudu, springbok, eland, impala, blessbok and warthog. They also produce a range of air-cured products such as dry sausage and parmaham.
Their passion for good food and L'art de Vivre that drove them to start this venture and despite full time careers, time constraints and financial pressure they were overwhelmed to see people's appreciation and the “joy on their faces” when tasting their products. While sampling his amazing Springbok Rillette with bitter, crunchy gherkins, Gérald mentions that the South African gastronomy industry has completely changed over the last 15 years to the point where “we now find very refined chefs and restaurants, excellent cheeses and a better approach to food in general. This is an excellent dynamic as people are constantly looking for new and better products.”
Le Petit Cochon strive to keep a certain authenticity and tradition in the production of their food and firmly believe that eating is not merely a necessity but it is a way of life. In anticipation of the Food Wine Design Fair 2010, Gérald looks forward to serving his favourite dish of Cassoulet with Duck Confit.
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