Mealhada, stuck pig capital of Portugal

My stomach is a bit iffy so I didn’t partake but Mealhada is where you go in Portugal if you fancy a bit of stuck pig. 

The place has thousands of restaurants all sizzling away. You can chose one of two options: “Con Pico” where you get to kill and skewer the unfortunate pork yourself or “ Sin Pico” where you just kill it. 70% go for Con. Especially popular with the ladies. 

The piglets all come from local farms - which is nice for them - and have all been trained to wink at the potential customer and say “Don’t worry Sir, ‘tis for the best”  (a quick nod to Douglas Adams and Restaurant).  If you eat the whole piglet you get €100 back but no one has ever done it (and survived). It’s considered a foolish bet.

The other interesting thing is the amount of pig/human inter-breeding around the place. Hard to comment but the nuns do seem to have engorged nostrils and snort a lot. For me though, the give away is the tail. While the practice is frowned upon, the police do seem to turn a blind eye. No idea why.......