Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Hungarian Pig


llc45

Recommended Posts

I was reading the NYTimes dining section online yesterday and saw this article about the Mangalita pig, a heritage breed from Hungary that was has recently been introduced to the US. I only clicked on the article because the pig had curly fur and looked so darn cute.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that they are breeding them in NJ at a farm one town over, right next to a goat farm I go to sometimes to stock up on goat milk soap and farm raised chickens. So I called and they sell to the public. Since I already was having my mom's birthday dinner tomorrow night anyway, I am headed over this afternoon to pick up a pork shoulder. Right now, they only had in stock the shoulders in a Mangalista/Berkshire cross. In the pure Mangalista, they have bone in legs and loins.

Has anyone else tried this yet? I see pancetta and numerous barbequed butts in my future. I have been dying to try pancetta after reading the numerous posts on egullet but will have to wait to they have bellies available.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought this topic was going to be about Zsa Zsa Gabor. :biggrin:

One of the pig farms I go to has a few curly-haired varieties. I've not tried the pork yet -- please let us know how it goes.

Peter Gamble aka "Peter the eater"

I just made a cornish game hen with chestnut stuffing. . .

Would you believe a pigeon stuffed with spam? . . .

Would you believe a rat filled with cough drops?

Moe Sizlack

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have heard fantastic things about these hogs, though I thought they were only available in the US in the Northwest. Maybe there is hope for those of us down south, if you've got them in Jersey now. The fat is supposed to be amazing, so I'd do some things to capitalize on that: BBQ comes immediately to mind, getting that smoke flavor in there should be awesome.

Chris Hennes
Director of Operations
chennes@egullet.org

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my goodness, I may have bitten off more than I can chew - literally. I ended up with a 17 lb portion that includes a jowl and is frozen. I have never cooked more than 3-4 lbs of pork in my life. For my first attempt, I was planning on slow roasting it tomorrow for my mother's bday dinner but I don't think it will be thawed on time. Slow roasting would allow me to really taste the flavor of the meat before I try barbeque. Can I slow roast it on Sunday and then divide it up and do several different things with it, including freezing portions for future meals? We are only a family of three!

The jowl is interesting - the farm said I could use this to make pancetta. I know it is normally used to make guanciale. I have salivated over many of your posts about Ruhlman's charcuterie. What should I do with the jowl? Hopefully, I can figure out what it is when the meat thaws and comes out of the cryovac.

If I didn't have a hectic week next week, I would really be tempted to hack a piece off when it thaws and try to make sausage. Unfortunately, I wouldn't have time until next weekend and I don't have a means of cutting a piece while frozen to wait until next week.

Peter = I think I am going to start calling it zsa zsa! :laugh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let us know how the zsa zsa turns out! After a little reading, it looks like there is only one breeder in the US who then sells piglets to other farms to be raised then slaughtered. That corner on the market is great for them, but not so much for us. Oh, how I would love to get my hands on a couple non-neutered Hungarian piglets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The pork was incredibly moist and flavorful. I didn't even have to do anything to it. I just scored it and put garlic in the slits and added salt, pepper, rosemary. I don't think I would have needed to add anything. Then I slow roasted it for about 10 hrs. It looked like an I Love Lucy Episode. Since it came frozen, I couldn't cut it. So I put the whole thing in a giant roasting pan and the leg and part of the body still stuck out. So I just put foil down and put it in the oven - which just barely fit. I did manage to figure out what the jowl was and am going to take a stab at making guanciale.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a wooly pig producer out here in the NW.

A friend and I bought a pile of meat [ loin, butt and picnic ] from them and cooked it up. I really liked it because of its fat but, I don't feel I could argue either side of its taste being better or not so.... The lard was wonderful but I frankly, can't tell it is better than normal leaf lard.

Wooly Pigs is the site of our local producer. In this lite are links to other wooly pig producers as well as some interesting info on heritage pigs.

edit: for dyslectic finger(s) and maybe old worn out brain

Edited by RobertCollins (log)

Robert

Seattle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...