More Modern Marvels
Apr 26, 2008 Television, offal watch
Last night the episode of Modern Marvels was titled “The Pig.”
Although I braced myself for a biased portrayal of the pork industry as it shifted from the lard type breeds of old to the lean “white” meat of the 80’s and 90’s; and they were a bit generous with their praise regarding the genetic engineering of hogs and made it sound almost like a good thing that you need to take showers before going into a CAFO operation; they did swing it around at the end showing an organic farm that raises Berkshire hogs and even fattens some of them on acorns in their final days.
Still, it was after showing some medcal uses for pig genetics like insulin and tissue repair that the episode steered into a direction I didn’t see coming: Chris Cosentino was on cooking offal at Incanto.
He cracked open a pigs head, poached the brain, and then sautéed it with mushrooms and capers.
The listing on The History Channel’s website also shows that Missouri’s Burger’s Smokehouse was also in the episode, but I missed the first ten minutes and it must have been in that segment as I didn’t see it.
It will air again May 7, and here’s the rundown on upcoming episodes of food-related interest:
- Whiskey - April 26
- Corn - May 5
- Farming Technology - May 6
- The Pig - May 7
Tags: Berkshire, Burger's Smokehouse, Chris Cosentino, hogs, modern marvels, offal, pigs, pork
Bring it
Mar 13, 2008 farming, general food
Yes, more pigs.
I’m really fascinated by this because Heath Putnam said the mangalitsa-berkshire hybrids were only a few days old when this was taken and it’s hard to imagine any animal having the were-with-all to throw down like this practically day one.
Tags: hog-fight, hogs, Mangalitsa-Berkshire hybrids, pigs, Wooly Pigs
May the Pork Be With You
Nov 7, 2007 farming, slow food, sustainable agriculture
Shamelessly stealing another man’s thunder for the second time today, Michael Ruhlman, superstar of pork that he is, mentioned an email from Heath Putnam, owner of Wooly Pigs, who referenced his own blog on which he posted his thoughts about USDA slaughtering versus Austrian slaughtering. Specifically he spoke of his sale of three pigs to The French Laundry and his concern about their slaughter in a USDA plant.
Offering an interesting look from a breeders standpoint, the blog is definitely worth reading.
Even more interesting than the blog, however, is his website. I know far more about pig breeds than I did 30 minutes ago, and also about his soon to be specialty, the Austrian Mangalitsa.
Just look at that picture and tell me you’ve seen anything like that before? I had not (until 30 minutes ago), and it’s because it’s a lard-type pig which he describes as such:
Breeds suitable for producing lard were called “lard-type,” because they fattened so easily. The Mangalitsa was especially well-suited for lard production, because of its metabolism. It could be raised to 79% fat by weight, the highest percentage ever measured.
Certainly biased (and really why shouldn’t he be with pigs this well cared for), he’s written a great deal about the history of pigs in America, and our shift towards faster growing, leaner, and less flavorful pork. There are a bunch of pictures past and present as well as a great deal of video footage of his Berkshires and Mangalitsas and I highly suggest poking around on the site.
You should start right here.
Tags: Berkshire, Heath-Putnam, Mangalitsa, Michael Ruhlman, pigs, Wooly Pigs
Knowing Your Meat
Oct 26, 2007 farming, general food
I’ve inquired recently with a few farmers about whether I could see their slaughtering facilities and specifically the slaughtering itself. Generally, when I discuss this with most people (non-farmers), it is met with looks of horror, and is quickly followed by a question along the lines of “why would you want to see that?”
I guess I want to see it because I feel, at least on some moral level, that if I can’t watch say — a pig being slaughtered, then I don’t really have the right to eat it in the first place.
While catching up on my Next Iron Chef reading tonight after finally watching episode three this afternoon (go Cosentino!) Michael Ruhlman had also posted about this sentiment saying:
“…one of five things you should eat before you die is the meat of a freshly slaughtered animal, preferably having witnessed the slaughter.”
He then linked to this great essay at the New York Times about raising pigs for slaughter.
Barbara Kingsolver made what I consider to be a phenomenally great point in her book about people using different names for the commonly eaten meats than they use for the actual animal. (e.g. beef is cow, pork is pig)
What do you think? Is it important to understand where your meat comes from?
Tags: Chris Cosentino, farmers, Iron Chef, Michael Ruhlman, nytimes, pigs, pork, slaughter
