A spit-roasted hog cooks during the 2016 Northwood Public House annual pig roast. This year the restaurant is planning on cooking five hogs in total with one on a spit and four others done in a Mediterranean porchetta-style roast.
Those looking for some Mediterranean-style meat during Harvest Days have an opportunity to sate their cravings for roasted pork as Northwood Public House is hosting its fourth annual pig roast on Saturday.
Starting at noon, guests can buy either sandwiches or pork platters made from freshly-roasted pork, enjoyed alongside music and entertainment for kids. Northwood Public House Co-owner Eric Starr explained that four of the five hogs for the event will be cooked as porchetta-style roasts stuffed with sausage and pork loin, with one cooked on a spit to give a conspicuous example that the pub was cooking pork that day.
Starr said it was a goal from the start of Northwood to have a pig roast. Serendipitously, one day an old acquaintance from Portland, a butcher named Terry Wagner, stopped by the restaurant. After a reconnection, Wagner agreed to help in the preparation of the pig, Starr explained, and the first hog roast happened in 2015.
“The response is fantastic,” Starr remarked about past years’ events. “The first year it blew me away how many people came out for it.”
Starr explained how Wagner’s expertise would come in hand as the porchetta roasts were completely deboned, stuffed with sausage made in-house as well as pork loin before slow roasting.
To complement the food, Northwood will also have a specialty beer list including the debut of a Pig Roast Pale Ale from Little Dipper Brewing Company, the public house’s own brewing operation.
The roasted pork will be on the menu while supplies last, though Starr said the goal was to have enough for that not to be an issue.
“The goal is to run out at 11:01 p.m.,” Starr remarked, one minute after closing.
There’s more than just pork and beer slated for Saturday’s festivities at Northwood. Two acclaimed artists will be putting on shows that day. Portland-based musicians Lisa Mann and Kenny Lavitz will be taking the stage, providing a “blues, R&B review” for the day as Starr put it.
“These are people that play the Waterfront Blues Festival every year,” Starr said. “They’re musicians with serious chops.”
The pig roast serves as a way for Northwood to get in on the Harvest Days festivities, Starr said, as most of the action is around main street, not The Battle Ground Village. For him, the annual event is a highlight of the year in no small part to good pork and good cooking.
“I think our food is really good, but this is the thing that I get most excited about every year because it’s delicious,” Starr remarked.
For those looking to take part in the festivities, Starr said the pig roast is a way to enjoy sizzling meats in summer in a more unique way than your average backyard cookout.
“It’s a way to relax, sit back, listen to some great music and feel like you’ve done something special,” he said.
