A DISSERTATION UPON ROAST PIG by Charles Lamb

 

                Charles Lamb, one of the greatest English prose writer was born in England in 1775. He wrote most of his essays under the pen name Elia. He is a great essayist, poet and antiquarian. Some of the famous works of Charles Lamb are “On the Tragedies of Shakespeare”, “Tales of Rosamund Gray”, “Tales from Shakespeare”, “Last Essays of Elia” and so on.

                This essay “A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig” was published in 1822, in the London Magazine under the pen name ‘Elia’. It is a humorous essay and Lamb has used many anecdotes in this essay. The narrator opens the essay by stating that long back people didn’t cook their meat and they used to eat it raw. He says that this was hinted by Confucius, who used the term ‘Cook’s holiday’ for the first time.

Confucius tells how the art of roasting was discovered by the people. Long back in China, Ho-ti, the swineherd, went to the forest, to get beech-nuts for his pigs. He asked his son Bo-bo to take care of the house and the pig stable. Bo-bo, the son who is very playful was playing with the fire. While he was playing, a spark escaped into a buddle of straw and very soon the whole area got fire. Along with the mansion, nine newly furrowed pigs too burnt. Bo-bo was not worried about the mansion, but he is worried about the pigs. While Bo-bo was feeling afraid of his dad, he could feel a strong smell. He could neither find from where the smell come nor what the smell is.

Suddenly he saw the piglets and touched it to see whether anyone is alive. He burnt his fingers and to cool them he put his hands in his mouth. And that was the first time ever in the human history someone tasting the roasted pig. Bo-bo loved the taste and he could not control himself. He started eating the piglets in a beastly fashion. Just then his father, Ho-ti entered and got angry on seeing Bo-bo’s action. He beat, scolded and cursed his son for eating the pig. But Bo-bo invited Ho-ti to taste the pig. Ho-ti with trembling hands touched the piglets and it burnt his hands too. Like the son, the father too put his hands in the mouth to cool it and he too found the taste delicious.

Father and son enjoyed and relished the taste but they took care to keep their affairs secret. But still the neighbors got doubt when Ho-ti’s cottage alone got fire often. On close watching they found the secret behind it. So Bo-bo and Ho-ti was made to stand before the Perkins court. The pig meat was also brought to the court. Initially the juries found the father and son guilty but when they tasted the pig, all of them loved the taste and finally the father and son was pronounced guiltless. Very soon the township was often on fire and the pig rate and fuel rate increased enormously. Even the people started to build their houses lightly. And at last, a sage discovered that the pig meat can be cooked without burning the whole house.

The narrator tells about the choice of pig. He wants one to choose tender, young suckling and not the grown pokers. He asks to chose the pig which was just born, which has not yet seen the sty and which has never done any mistakes like that of our ancestors. He also adds that the pig we chose should have a mild tone. He says that the young suckling should not be boiled because it spoils the exterior skin. The narrator wants the pig to be roasted well so that the skin becomes crispy and juicy. The sticky oil that comes out of the skin is the fat and it adds flavor to the food. The narrator calls this meat as ‘manna’.  The narrator asks us to cook the meat in good warmth and not in scorching heat. Cooking in string makes the meat to cook wholly. The narrator says that the plate where the cooked meat kept is its second cradle. If at all the pig has not turned into meat, it would have grown up and wallowed in dirt and became a glutton and even it would have involved in filthy conversation. The narrator tells that the pig is saved from all these sins. According to the narrator the greatest tombstone that a pig could get is a foodie’s stomach.

The narrator tells that though the taste of the pineapple is extraordinary it can’t exceed the taste of the pig meat. The pineapple’s exterior wound the lips that approach her and it almost bites the lips. The taste of the pineapple is a pleasure bordered on pain. It stops with that of the mouth and it fails to fulfill the hunger. But the pig meat stimulates the appetite and fulfills the hunger completely. It is a best food for both the strong and the weak ones. The strong one enjoys the meat whereas the weak ones enjoy its juiciness.

The narrator goes on to compare the pig meat with mankind. Mankind is a bundle of good and bad virtues. His character is mixed and it’s difficult to understand him. But the pig meat is good and delicious throughout. He says that all part of the food is tasty. The narrator further adds that though he is good in sharing and would share even the remote foods, he will not share the pig meat with anyone. He tells that he will not be like “Lear” and it is ingratitude to share the pig meat with anyone.   

The narrator recalls his childhood experience. Once his aunt who always used to stuff his pocket with eatables gave him homemade plum cake.  When the narrator was on his way back, a beggar asked for alms near the London Bridge. The narrator too gave the whole plum cake to the beggar. Initially he felt so happy and proud of his activity but he felt so bad a little later. He felt bad on thinking of his aunt’s efforts in making the plum cake and he wondered what he would say regarding the cake, if he meets the aunt next time.

The narrator then recollects the method followed by the ancestors, regarding the sacrifice of pigs. The narrator tells that the ancestors used to beat the pig to death. He wondered what effect this kind of practice had on the pigs. He wondered whether this practice made the meat soft and sweetened and does it added any extra flavors to the food. The narrator calls this action as ‘refining the violet’. Once a student in St. Omer’s college raised a question regarding this, the narrator felt helpless. He could not give a proper conclusion to this decision.

The narrator concludes his essay by giving a recipe for preparing pig sauce. The narrator tells that adding bread crumbs, liver, brain and sage leaves adds taste to the sauce. But he asks to banish the whole onion tribe. He even asks to add shallots and garlic while preparing barbeque meat. And finally the narrator asks the reader to treat the pig like a tender flower.

Thus this essay is the most light-hearted of Lamb’s essay. It features a copious use of the literary device of hyperbole, with Lamb going to all sorts of eccentric ends to extol the flavor of roasted pig.

------HAPPY LEARNING-----