Pickled Pigs’ Feet
http://manlygrub.com/?p=80When I was a kid, my mother told me she loved pickled pigs’ feet. And she was an honest person, so I assume it was true. I never saw her eat one. I always wondered what they were like.
In addition, I have always had a burning curiosity about S.W. “Red” Smith products. These are the pickled items you see at convenience stores and gas stations. Soaking in what looks like transmission fluid. In big jars.
This weekend, during a visit to Gordon Food Service, curiosity overcame me. I bought a gallon of pig’s feet, and today I managed to make myself try one.

I am going to be straight with you. I have no idea why people eat these things. I found one piece of meat in it, and it was the size of an olive. The skin was soft and edible, but the taste reminded me of the smell of permanent-marker ink.
I’m wondering if hocks would be better. Hocks contain actual meat, and the fat is tasty, too. I could make a vinegar and brine solution, dump some smoked hocks in it, and add a blistering-hot Trinidad Scorpion pepper.
I have not tried the “Big John” sausages. I don’t know what’s in them, but it can’t be any worse than a pig’s foot.
You should thank me for sparing you this ordeal.