The Whole Hog: Around the Pig in 80 Ways

"Someone defined eternity as a ham and two people" wrote Irma Rombauer in The Joy of Cooking. I'm sure that this quote, and its history, date to the days before freezers and the ability to subdivide meat, because this is emphatically not how I've ever felt about ham, or any other part of the pig. A versatile and delicious meat, the only things that have ever stopped me from enjoying pork in every form are ethics and health. Happily, I have found solutions to both problems.

First, ethically raised animals are widely available for purchase directly from ranchers. The rancher from whom I purchase my pork and lamb, Mary Pettis-Sarley of Napa, sells 1/2 pigs and whole lambs, as well as beef cows and other farm products. She hires a person to perform their harvest in a humane way, and then small, local butcher shops will cut the meat to your specifications, smoke as much as you like, and then package and freeze it all in nice little bundles. A half of a pig or a whole lamb can comfortably fit in a regular sized freezer compartment of a refrigerator, and finding friends who'd like to share an animal is easy. No one I know has ever regretted buying too much; I have however heard and expressed many a regret about not purchasing more!

As to health, pig fat has been much maligned. If the animal has been raised on a healthy diet, and the fat has not been hydrogenated, the fat actually has a much healthier profile than you might expect. Here's what sausage king Bruce Aidells has to say on the subject in his Complete Book of Pork; "The saturated fat in lard contains about one third of stearic acid,, which may have a beneficial effect on cholesterol, and it helps to relax blood vessels. Lard, which is 40% unsaturated, belongs in the high oleic group, which has a similar lipid profile to olive oil..."

Here is what Mary Pettis-Sarley (wingedspan@earthlink.net) has to say about how she raises her pigs:

"They are Duroc, by breed.... Spotty is their Mom and Arnold is their Dad (your group.) They go out to pasture and eat greens, sleep on a straw bed in the barn and are fed fines (the finer particles from the mill), that I make slop with. Then they eat extra goat milk and whey when I am making cheese, and extra produce from the garden. I grow them Kale, which they love, and now they are eating pumpkins from the garden. They live as a family group, and 'spoon' with each other, which I love. I know two things... where the saying 'pigs in a blanket' comes from - it is just how they sleep, all lined up. And, where the saying 'I waited for you just like one hog waits for another' which they NEVER do....

Before this storm, I moved the younger group up to the top barn, which is drier for them, and makes more room for the goats in the lower barn. It took about half hour to move up to the top barn - we went the slow and interesting way - around the lake, twice, with them lazily grazing the taller grass all along the way. It was a delightful walk, with pigs and dogs strolling along."

If you are interested in finding sustainably farmed meats in your area, a quick google of "meat CSA" (CSA stands for "community supported agriculture," a way of paying the farmer directly for a share of her crop) turns up entries all over the country.

This year I bought 3/4 of a pig, my largest share ever, and I will be chronicling my cook's journey through all of the pig packages from my stash, calling it, of course "The Whole Hog." My friend Ondine, who bought the other quarter of the pig, will contribute pieces about her share, as well. In addition to the superior flavor and all the benefits of buying directly from the rancher, from ethical and environmental, to health and social justice, I love the adventure of figuring out how to cook the cut that I have, instead of cherry-picking at the meat counter and getting the same cut over and over.

Next time: Starting the year right with Hoppin' John; black-eyed peas cooked with smoked hog jowl.