Wednesday, October 22, 2008

A Second American Makes the Mangalitsa Pilgrimage

An American is visiting Austria right now, hanging out with Mangalitsa breeders who fatten and process their hogs. He's also spending time with Chef Stockner, one of Austria's best chefs and Mangalitsa experts. You can see those guys on YouTube.

His trip should get written up by the food media, so I won't provide more details now.

If you are someone interested in fattening Mangalitsa and processing them, I recommend you consider making a similar trip. Although there are other countries where people process hogs, they normally work with leaner ones. E.g. you could go to Italy and make pancetta. But when your Mangalitsa pancetta winds up looking like pure fat, you'll be in uncharted territory.

Here's photos of typical Austrian products made from Mangalitsa. Many Americans are shocked at how fatty that stuff looks.

I am a firm believer in learning from people who already know what they are doing. In that vein, if you know about making and marketing salami - and would be willing to talk to me about it - please contact me.

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