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Berkshire Pork

malcolmjolley

By malcolmjolley
in Cooking

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  • 4 years later...
dcarch

dcarch

Posted
Posted

A good friend will be sending me different cuts of Bershire pork.

Known as Kurobuta Pork in Japan and Berkshire Pork elsewhere, a very nice kind of pork.

My friend raised the pigs herself free-range and organic. They were young when they were slaughtered.

What would you suggest?

I have a sous vide cooker, but I don't always insist on sous vide everything.

Thank you for your help.

dcarch

Marlene

Marlene

Posted
Posted

What cuts is she sending you? Berkshire pork is amazing and tender and flavourful!

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

Alcuin

Alcuin

Posted
Posted

Berkshire pork is great. I eat it quite often because it's available fresh in the store down the street from my house. The stuff I get comes from Willow Creek Farms and it is very good. I'm not sure I'd compare it to Kobe/wagyu beef though. At least in terms of marbling, what I get isn't absolutely insanely marbled. It's got great fat (and I'm very happy that I can order it direct in the form of pure back fat) but it is not marbled through and through like Kobe is. I cook it like normal pork, though I do tend to treat it simply to accentuate its natural deliciousness. But I like to do that with everything I cook. Is your meat going to be extremely marbled like Kobe? If so, that must be due to how the hogs were fed, more than the breed I think.

As a sidenote, tonight I cut up some country rib meat to go into my pad see ew. I'm about to cook it right now: Should be good.

nunc est bibendum...

avaserfi

avaserfi

Posted
Posted

It really depends on the cuts you get. I can tell you what we do at the butcher shop I work at with some of my favorite cuts though. Granted, we use Mangalitsa (the real Kobe of the pork world), Red Wattle and crosses between the two (my personal favorite. If you get any large portions of shoulder with skin on, porchetta is my go to. Collar steaks (the neck roll often turned into coppa) is phenomenal, probably one of my favorite cuts of pork, cooked just like a steak or pork chop. Seared hard Med-rare - works well cooked low temperature as well. Salt pepper and olive oil. Belly I would confit or turn to bacon.

Just some examples, once you get the cuts in it will be easier to say.

Andrew Vaserfirer aka avaserfi

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Obese-Wan Kenobi

Obese-Wan Kenobi

Posted
Posted (edited)

dcarch,

You can make Tonkatsu from the loin and tenderloin. :)

Yes, I wouldn't go so far as saying Kurobuta is the Kobe of Pork. There are many that can claim that. Mangalista and the Jabugo are two off the bat.

It's more like the Black Angus of Pork :) Nevertheless, it's still excellent.

Best regards.

Edited by Obese-Wan Kenobi (log)
Paul Bacino

Paul Bacino

Posted
Posted

I just tried some Iberico Pork recently and it's the best pork I've ever tasted. Currently, there's only one importer into the US.

I had some of those tenderloins from La Tienda, but mine were obviously.. frozen . I did a light smoke with apple wood and finished sous vide.

Its good to have Morels

Norm Matthews

Norm Matthews

Posted
Posted (edited)

The farmer here in Kansas- Lindsborg-. who started the Heritage turkey fad also has began raising Heritage pork. Heritage Foods USA sells Berkshire pork. Another site, http://www.americanberkshire.com/ has recipes for this kind of delicious pork.

http://www.porkbeinspired.com/Recipes.aspx

It isn't a speciality method for raising pigs but rather an old style breed with great flavor.

Edited by Norm Matthews (log)

http://normmatthews.blogspot.com/

Zeemanb

Zeemanb

Posted
Posted

One preparation I learned from a local chef that is incredibly delicious and highlights the flavor of good pork is what I refer to as "candied shoulder"....

You take a good sized shoulder/butt, and cure it for 24hrs in a mixture of salt, sugar and chile flakes, it draws out a pretty amazing amount of liquid. Rinse it, dry it, and place it in a low temp oven (~250) until you could just about pull the bone from it. Take it out, let it cool down to a point where it is still warm and coat it with a mixture of brown sugar, a little bit of salt, and chile-related flakes and powders to taste, I even throw in a little cumin. After you have a pretty thick coating on it, put it back in the oven at a much higher temp (~450+) until the coating is good and melted in and the fat cap has a "jiggle" to it when you touch it.

Fresh tortillas, an array of condiments....it does good Berkshire, Duroc, Red Wattle, etc. PROUD.

Jerry

Kansas City, Mo.

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ChrisTaylor

ChrisTaylor

Posted
Posted

That's blood, I take it? You could use it to make blood sausage/cake, obviously. Fergus Henderson's recipe in his first book being but one example. The shoulder? Slow-cook it in an oven or, better yet, smoker. I'd keep the seasoning simple. Don't kill it with BBQ sauce. The chops? Pan-fry or grill. Pepper and maybe a nice finishing salt.

Chris Taylor

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  • 3 years later...
AlaMoi

AlaMoi

Posted
Posted

had this in eateries - always enjoyed it.  so I set out to learn whether it's so good because of the pork, the chef, or the fact I didn't have to cook it . . . .

 

was in a 'farmer's market' a bit back - tripped over a (not open that day) butcher stall that had signs of "we have Berkshire pork" - so today I went back after researching what days that shop was 'open' - the market is 30 minutes travel, downtown, parking is a bear @ $500 per second (okokIzagerate...) go in, go to stall, empty.  everything cleaned out, stuff stacked upside down. 

 

so I asked the neighbor cookie lady - very nice person - what happened.  oh, they've been gone for quite some time - gosh, the market website has them listed as of yesterday.....

 

that was Heritage Breed Farms of Russia,Ohio.  oops.

 

so here's my question:  it the stuff really worth finding it?  I've located another source around Gettysburg - which explains how/why a local eatery there had it.... - but it is one-way an hour+ drive.  I dislike freezing good meats - exception: pork tenderloin does not seem to suffer in my freezer - bottom line to that is I'm not going to buy a whole / half pig and freeze it for use in perpetuity . . .

 

experiences with Berkshire pork welcome!

JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

Limited experience but I've bought Berkshire twice.  Given the choice I would purchase no other pork.

 

It's not "the other white meat".

  • Like 1

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

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Unpopular Poet

Unpopular Poet

Posted
Posted

I have to say that I recently purchased a whole Berkshire head, belly and shoulder. The difference was significant - especially in the belly and shoulder - here's a pic of the shoulder brining....it was fattier in all the right places and absolutely more flavorful. I wish I had a pic of the belly!

image.jpeg

  • Like 2
MetsFan5

MetsFan5

Posted
Posted

My husband gets Berkshire pork ribs at our local butcher. They are AMAMZING. Absolutely the best ribs I have ever had. Worth every penny and more.

  • Like 1
AlaMoi

AlaMoi

Posted
Posted

thanks for the input!  I may have to buy it mail order - can't find a single place in the area that carries it.

 

all the restaurant fare I've had was really excellent - I wonder if the stuff is that short in supply only a few local businessi can get their hands on it.

huiray

huiray

Posted
Posted (edited)

If you would like CURED Berkshire pork, one that I enjoy and get from a local place (a charcuterie/enoteca/butcher, which carries it off-and-on) is "Prosciutto Rossa" put out by La Quercia (this one). They get their Berkshire pork from "selected farmers" from this group.

Edited by huiray (log)
  • Like 1
Meanderer

Meanderer

Posted
Posted

If you have any Tamworth pork available in your area, it is worth a try. Probably the best plain old pork roast I ever had came from that breed.

blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted

If you would like CURED Berkshire pork, one that I enjoy and get from a local place (a charcuterie/enoteca/butcher, which carries it off-and-on) is "Prosciutto Rossa" put out by La Quercia (this one). They get their Berkshire pork from "selected farmers" from this group.

Love the clickable pig on the La Quercia website and their products look wonderful, too!

huiray

huiray

Posted
Posted

Love the clickable pig on the La Quercia website and their products look wonderful, too!

 

You mean this pig, of course. Yes, they have nice stuff. :-) Did you see the acorn-fed Berkshire cured ham legs (limited supply!) they offer? :-D

 

Just a BTW for those who just maybe might have let it slip their minds...Black Berkshire pigs/pork would be equivalent to Kurobuta pigs/pork. The "pure Oriental strains of Black Berkshire" in Japan is regarded by some as the highest quality pork one can get there.

AlaMoi

AlaMoi

Posted
Posted

Tamworth . . .

 

seems as scarce as Berkshire.  the 'source farms' are multiple hours away - and no internet mention of retail places in my immediate area.

 

some of the on-line sources are like out-of-their-minds.  $/lb plus shipping makes for a veddy expensive meal.  I know the stuff is more expensive, but . . .

 

I need to gin up a list of a wider area butchers and get in the car. 

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