Whole pigs are lowered into a stone-lined roasting pit at the 2012 Pig Mountain pig roast in Narrowsburg. Photo by Randy Harris.
A punk pig roast? Maybe it was only a matter of time, but it’s surely proof positive that when the big city gets its hands on country culture, magic can happen. See it for yourself this weekend, as Pig Mountain Pig Roast and Veggie Fest takes over Main Street Narrowsburg Saturday for a third year of feasting and music with a delectably in-your-face edge.
Founders Heather Carlucci, Lindsay Shute, and Matthew Solomon originally started the event as a party in a basement, but Pig Mountain has grown far beyond its humble roots. In the roast's third year, projected attendance is expected to top 2,500; the event will feature 14 top-flight chefs (one per locally sourced porker) and the support of the National Young Farmers Coalition.
The fest's cheekily macabre promotional cartoons, created by counterculture brandmeisters Mother New York, have apparently drawn a few potshots from animal activists. Organizers recently took the opportunity to respond with a blast of pure punk love on Facebook: “As we realize that it is a far stretch to agree with such groups while we host a pig roast, this is a good time for us to mention that we only support farms, both for the pigs and the produce, that have humane, clean, organic practices." Like the Pig Mountain founders say: Respect the pig.
Eaters of all persuasions will salivate over the work of of Roxanne Spruance of Alison Eighteen, a Manhattan bistro that shines at roast meats and comfort foods, and the team of Matthew Ridgeway and Paul Mitchell of The Pass, a little French roadhouse and charcuterie that’s put Rosemont, New Jersey solidly on the foodie map. And those are just two of 14, folks.
Pig Mountain Pig Roast and Veggie Fest. Saturday, August 24, 4pm to 8pm. Main Street, Narrowsburg. Tickets are $30, and the price of admission gets you ten plates of food; serious hogs can purchase additional plates for $3 each. For more information and tickets, visit Pig Mountain’s website or their Facebook page.
Below: A press kit sent out by Pig Mountain organizers, featuring Georgie, the roast's iconic cartoon mascot.
