Traditions
The tradition of the hog roast goes back centuries, and possibly longer. There are many ways to roast pork, including open fire rotisserie style roasting, and "caja china" style box grilling. Many families traditionally have a pig roast for Thanksgiving or Christmas. In Miami and other areas with large Cuban, Puerto Rican, or other Caribbean populations pig roasts are often held on Christmas Eve by families and friends whereas families from Hawaii often hold a roast on memorial day.
Pig roast (lechon asado) is a part of Puerto Rico's national dish and is usually served with arroz con gandules. In Puerto Rico, pig roasts occur year round, but happen in greater frequency as part of New Year's Eve celebrations and especially Christmas.
In the Philippines, the roasted pig is referred to as lechon baboy. It is traditionally prepared for Christmas celebrations, but is also commonplace at birthday parties, weddings, Debuts, and family reunions.
In Indonesia pig roast is called babi guling, babi panggang or babi bakar and it is rarely found since Indonesia is a muslim majority country, except in non-muslim majority provinces, such as Hindu Bali and Christian Batak lands in North Sumatra, Minahasa people of North Sulawesi, Toraja in South Sulawesi, Papua, and also among Chinese Indonesians. In Bali babi guling usually served with lawar and steamed rice, it is popular dish in Balinese restaurant and warungs. In Batak people tradition, babi guling is a prerequisite in wedding offering for the bride family. In Papua pigs and yams is roasted in heated stones filled in the hole dug on the ground and covered with leaves, this cooking method is called bakar batu (burning the stone), and it is an important cultural and social event among Papuan people.
In various Chinese communities (especially in Southern China), a pig roast known as siu yuk is purchased for the sake of special family affairs, business openings, or as a ritualistic spiritual offering. For example, a tradition is to offer one or several whole roast pigs to the Jade Emperor to celebrate a Chinese film's opening with a roast pig; the pig is sacrificed to ward off evils in return to pray for the film's success. One garnish used to make the dish look more appealing is a circular slice of pineapple and cherry and is often placed in a red box for luck.
In the UK, the tradition of pig roasting, which is more commonly known in the UK as a Hog Roast, is fundamental to many occasions, particularly parties and celebrations. It is usually an outdoor event, and a staple meal on many show events. The tradition is either to roast on a spit, turning the pig under a flame, or in a large oven in a roasting pan, roasting pigs over 200 lbs in weight is common in the UK. The pig is roasted usually in cider and bay leaves, with salt rubbed in to the scored skin to make the 'crackling'.
In Spain the locals call this a suckling pig or a "lechon asado". Hog Roast are becoming more popular across Spain and more so in Southern Spain due to the ex-pat community .
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