New Mangalitsa Breeder Tyke Antonopolous

Tyke Antonopolous of Missouri (near Springfield) just bought some breeding stock (4 gilts and 3 boars). His phone number is 417-276-3039.

He said his main intention is to sell breeding stock. He said he'll do a little meat, but given that he's isolated, he doesn't expect to sell much to restaurants.

If you've bought breeding stock from Heath Putnam Farms, don't be surprised if he contacts you. He wants to form an association of Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa breeders.

Tyke has been breeding livestock for years. He used to be very active in Boer goats.

It fascinates me to see this happening. Most of the breeding stock customers to date have been operations like Mosefund, Pasture Prime Wagyu or Revival Meats: breed specific meat companies.

Kerns, of International Boar Semen and Ken Kehrli (a Berkshire guy) are some of the established Iowa farmers that are adopting, if only experimentally, Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa pigs. It was a big deal to get them involved.

Tyke has two obvious markets: farms that bought Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa genetics and need fresh blood and farms wanting to acquire Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa genetics for the first time.

Favorite Bites 2011

EDIT: added a new one from chowfather

A bunch of people have written up "favorite bites of 2011" articles. It is great to see that Mangalitsa made an impact on so many peoples' gustatory lives in 2011. I figure it is just the tip of the iceberg; a few people write such articles. Many more people had the same experience, and perhaps even noticed it, but didn't bother to tell others about the best things they ate in 2011.

Jeff #1's list includes a chop in Houston's Max's Wine Dive. I'm guessing Morgan Weber's Revival Meats sold the loin to them.

Ian Froeb liked one of my pigs, cured and served at Taste, in St. Louis.

Food writer Leslie Kelly liked our winning hog.

Jeff #2's list included our winning hog.

Chowfather - Mangalitsa Belly his dish of the year.

Just due to how long it takes to get a Mangalitsa pig to market and who was breeding them when, I'm fairly sure (but not certain) that at one point, the pigs used to produce the pork belonged to Heath Putnam Farms, and hence, to me.

One thing that's neat about the rapid expansion in Mangalitsa breeders (which is accelerating) is that come 2013 or 2014, most of it will have been produced by someone other than me.

Mangalitsa Hams in the News

There's a nice story here about Johnston County Hams and their Mangalitsa hams.

I'm incredibly grateful that Johnston County Hams chose to produce Mangalitsa hams (and shoulders). Nobody else was willing to sink a fortune into producing a novel ultra-premium luxury food.

The story reminds me a bit of Germain-Robin; they made great brandies, equal to those of Europe. Unfortunately, Americans didn't really want that stuff. Unsurprisingly, I love Germain-Robin. Here's a section from an article about it:

Germain-Robin spends no money on advertising. Unlike Hennessy or Courvoisier, hip-hop artists don't give it "shout outs" in their songs. Moreover, being in Ukiah leaves Germain-Robin far off the trail of Wine Country tasting.

But in the glass, Germain-Robin brandies sing and dance. I tasted a range of the company's products along with some Hennessy XO Cognac, a well-regarded French product that costs $120. (See story page F6). The Hennessy XO smelled simple and uninteresting, and tasted rough and unbalanced in comparison.

It's not surprising that Germain-Robin tastes better than similarly priced French Cognacs when you learn how the two products are made. Both reflect the culture of their homelands.

Thanks Herb!

I finished the cured Mangalitsa shoulder that Herb Eckhouse sent me yesterday. There might be a few grams more of cured meat and fat on that thing, but I didn't want to risk cutting myself to get it.

It was delicious. The fat was like lardo. The cured meat was an umami-bomb.

My favorite part of the shoulder was the shank. I used a very sharp knife to remove the meat off the bone near the hoof. After cutting out the sinew I was able to enjoy some very delicate meat. I cut that into paper thin slices and ate it piece by piece. The texture is great - they are stiff and a bit chewy but still yielding.

This stuff isn't for everyone. One acquaintance that I shared a piece with remarked that it tasted plain. Apparently the jerky-like texture fooled her; she was expecting it to taste peppery. She didn't appreciate it at all.

This experience reminded me of the first time I ate cured pork products in Spain, while switching planes. I had never eaten cured pork products that weren't spiced or smoked. At first they tasted odd. The more I ate them, the more I liked them. Later I ate products made with spices and felt they were over-spiced.

Ferran Adria and other Molecular Cuisine Experts Eat one of my Pigs

Jason Bond's Mangalitsa fatback.

As described here, Ferran Adria (google him if you don't recognize him) visited the USA. He attended a special event at Harvard, along with Harold McGee and Nathan Myrvold.

At their special dinner, they got to eat some Mangalitsa from a that I sold to Jason Bond. I think you can see the pig (Tan) here.

That's neat. When you sell stuff, you never know what will happen to it.

Mangalitsa Lardo Fan Takes Second in Tower Race

Kevin Crossman took second in a recent important tower race, despite being injured.

We like to do aerial acrobatics (tricks on rope) at his gym. When I visit, I bring him things like Mangalitsa lardo.

He's living proof that one can eat lots of animal fat and be super healthy.

Culinary Pen's Mangalitsa Tenderloin

Mangalitsa tenderloin. Photo by Culinary Pen.

The blog Culinary Pen has a few Mangalitsa-related posts.

A recent one shows one way to prepare a Mangalitsa tenderloin. I think Mangalitsa tenderloin is a wonderful treat. I rarely eat it.

I sell that cut to chefs like John Cox of Casanova Restaurant or Philip of Nell's in Greenlake. Tenderloin is great cut for them because their guests are a bit conservative.

Mangalitsa Cocktail and Ground Control

I bumped into Matthew Segal (r) twice yesterday - once at Ba Bar (owned by Monsoon's Eric Banh) and later that evening at a Capitol Hill bar.

He is opening Ground Control. It will serve alcoholic drinks and sandwiches. Matthew has worked as a chef. He has a good palate. I bump into him at Monsoon regularly.

Months ago I gave him some Mangalitsa lardo. Last night he proudly showed me his cocktail menu. As the photo below shows, Mangalitsa cocktails are on his menu.


For his opening, I'll be providing some meat. He'll roast it up. He'll special the Mangalitsa cocktail that night. It should be a lot of fun.

He says that Mangalitsa fat dissolves into the drink. It adds flavor and mouthfeel.

Herb Eckhouse Sent me a Cured Mangalitsa Shoulder

Herb Eckhouse, founder of La Quercia, sent me a cured Mangalitsa shoulder (cut paleta-style).

He tried curing one as an experiment.*


I wasn't expecting it, so I opened it in the store to take a look. The UPS Store employee marveled at the "piggy's foot."

It arrived in two pieces.

The golden paste covering the exposed meat it is Herb's version of sugna. He makes his with cornmeal.

The cured shoulder tastes great. The fat tastes like awesome Mangalitsa lardo. A lot of people would probably slice the shoulder and put it on flatbread (pizza). I'll probably eat most of it in slices, without any accompanying carbs.

* Herb only cured one shoulder, and it isn't for sale. If you want to buy cured shoulders from our pigs, Johnston County Hams sells them.

Seattle Dinner Party

As I've mentioned on this blog before, Mangalitsa brings amazing people together. The people who love to eat Mangalitsa and seek it out are often ridiculously quality-sensitive.

I was reminded of that Saturday evening.

My friend Chris had a dinner party. He's been mentioned on this blog before; he does molecular cuisine and is a Mangalitsa fan. If you are lucky enough to get invited to his place for dinner, say "yes!"

The menu:

• Assorted cheeses, olives, truffle and foie gras pate
• Pacific oyster with rice vinegar and ginger
• Grapefruit cured salmon
• Caramelized carrot soup
  
• Arugula, persimmon, pomegranate salad
• Pasta alla chitarra with pork sugo and porcini
• Mussels and clams with vermouth, cannellini beans and cavelo nero
• Spiced pork stew with polenta, root vegetables and gremolata
• Pumpkin cake with pecan streusel and maple ice cream

Chris's wording on the menu is modest. In reality:

• The oysters were shucked with liquid nitrogen and dressed with sauce beads produced with liquid nitrogen. The oysters taste better as a result.
  

• The carmelized carrot soup was produced in a pressure cooker. It tastes incredible, like butterscotch soup.
  

• All the pork was Mangalitsa, from my personal stash. I also brought some dehydrated Mangalitsa bacon for the first course.
  

• The ice cream was made with liquid nitrogen, giving it an incredible texture.
  

The story behind the wine was even better.

Two of the guests, Bill Fleckenstein (Fleckenstein Capital Management) and Chuck Miller owner/founder of Seattle Wine Storage, have excellent wine collections. Bill has an extensive white burgundy selection. Chuck collects reds. If they bring the wine to a party, you are covered, because they won't just "bring the wine", they'll provide an entertaining full-featured "wine service".

It started pre-dinner, with Chuck showing up early, bringing twenty bottles and glasses for everyone. Showing up early gave him time to come up with a plan on what bottles to serve with the different courses.

During dinner, Bill and Chuck opened the bottles, checked them for cork (TCA), explained to the guests the story of the wine, and ribbed each other about the wines. They've been tasting wine together for at least sixteen years. It is great fun to watch them interact.

When they detected cork, they moved on to substitutes. That's one of the reasons Chuck brought so many bottles.

Les Impitoyables

Bill brings his own glass to events and restaurants. Called Les Impitoyables, the uncompromising, its special shape allows him to enjoy wine more, because he can smell it better. It also means that he can detect faults like cork when others can't.

Les Impitoyables towers over the other glasses.

The glass is intimidating; look at it dominating the table!

If I was a sommelier and a guy showed up with that glass, I'd be praying that he brought his own wine: if he drinks my wine, he might find fault with it. If he brings his own wine and shares it, it should be amazing.

My favorites were the dessert wines. Bill brought a wonderful Sauterne.* Chuck brought a memorable Madeira.

Being the first to import and produce Mangalitsa pigs in the western hemisphere has resulted in me experiencing some amazing things. The foodies and paleo people (sometimes paleofoodies) I've met have been incredible.

* I like Sauternes and Tokaji - they are both made from grapes affected by noble rot. Having lived a lot in Central Europe, I drank Tokaji before I had Sauterne. So when I drink Sauterne, I'm reminded of Tokaji. Similarly, when I eat Iberico, it reminds me of Mangalitsa.

Scientific Conference on Mangalitsa Pigs

The Hungarians are putting on a scientific conference on lard-type pigs. The text starts with:

Do we know enough about the treasures borne by the Hungarian Mangalica pig?...

Clearly we don't.

I suggest we eat our way through a lot of them to answer the question.

Robb Wolf on Bacon and Paleo Diet

Jake Platt, owner of three CrossFit gyms eating Mangalitsa lardo.

In a recent podcast (from 10:53 on), Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution, addresses the issue of whether or not people should eat bacon.

From what I've seen, a very small number paleo dieters avoid farmed animals and salt, figuring that Stone Age humans didn't eat that way.

Many paleo dieters I know use bacon as a staple fat. When people cut out dairy and vegetable oils, you see people heavily relying on things like coconut cream or bacon or lard.

Robb sounds generally pro-bacon, which is good (because it means he can enjoy Mangalitsa products) - as so many CrossFitters do.

My own Mangalitsa-based program (cyclic low-carb with resistance training) seems to be working.

Billionaire's Farm Buys some Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa Pigs

Swallow-bellied Mangalitsa sow

I recently sold some Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa breeding stock to a billionaire.

The people I dealt with are his farmers. He owns that they run for him.

When talking with one of the farmers, I asked who the guy was. She explained, "he owns such-and-such company". If I told you the name of the company, you'd recognize it; they've got locations all over the USA.

Besides breeding Mangalitsa pigs, the owner also breeds thoroughbred racehorses.

I think it is great that when thoroughbred racehorse breeding billionaires want to raise pigs, they choose the best: Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa.*

Also, I'm a bit horrified to note that I've been writing "Swallow-belly Mangalitsa" for years now, when, according to the pig references, the term is "Swallow-bellied Mangalitsa". It makes sense: we say "red-blooded American" and not "red-blood American".


* I can't help but be reminded of Ordell in Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown", talking about how the AK-47 is the best gun (NSFW!)

Ruth Reichl Still Thinks Mangalitsa Lard is the Best Fat

Ruth Reichl is quoted in the Wall St Journal (Nov 5, 2011) as saying:

The nicest cooking fat I've ever encountered is Mangalitsa lard. Right now I make my pie crusts with half butter and half lard. It's amazing stuff: It's pure white, and it's not piggy the way so much lard is. And it's such a pleasure to work with. I've never had dough that was so soft and lovely.

You can order some here.

It is odd to think that I'm personally responsible for people like Ruth Reichl being able to live better lives via luxury lard.

Eat this Pig or Else

Zagat has a post about a Mangalitda dinner:

Tonight and tomorrow are the last two nights to enjoy whole Mangalitsa pigs at Corsino. Chef Tomas Curi procured 1000 pounds of the precious pork, a cross breed of wild boar and lard pigs, and a cousin to the treasured black-footed Iberian pigs of Spain. Curi’s creations are changing daily, but one can expect snout-to-tail dishes like roasted loin chops over fig wood with fresh figs; belly confit with chicory and citrus vinaigrette; and crispy pig’s ear salad with puntarelle and poached egg. Through November 4.

I'm not sure about their ManBearPig story, but the food sounds good.

If you want to read about the history of the Mangalitsa breeds, here's some accurate info.

Ba Bar - Mangalitsa Soup

Ba Bar has a Mangalitsa phở special. I got to eat it wtih Eric Banh (Ba Bar and Monsoon owner) and Art Nelson of the Mercury Wine Group.

After tasting some of mine, some guests sitting next to me also ordered it. They really enjoyed it.



You can see a slice of roast Mangalitsa shoulder in the upper left corner of the photo.

Bauchspeck

I saw an article about a butcher making Mangalitsa products. The article's photo (above) shows him holding up an imposing slab of Bauchspeck (recipe).


It reminds me of "Decision Before Dawn", a film from 60 years ago (the two Germans look like they could be related) - and the fact that fatty bacon is a niche product now, not a staple.

Next week I'll be delivering a bunch of Mangalitsa bacon to Rainier CrossFit.

Today's typical fans of Mangalitsa bacon

CrossFitters like fatty bacon. E.g. Kurtis, owner of Rainier CrossFit, told me that he ate an entire pound of Mangalitsa bacon ends in one sitting, except a small bit that he gave his wife.

When he told me that, I couldn't help but think of bears. Although it is the same with wild boar - the man eats first.

Mangalitsa Pizza

Domino's Pizza is doing Mangalitsa pizza on their special line of über fancy pizzas. That's great news! As their website explains:

Prestige Quattro

This Quattro features delicious ingredients such as Mangalitsa pork, known as Hungary's "edible national treasure", and tasty snow crab in white sauce seasoned with truffles. An extra special pizza especially for this winter. Limited offer/until the beginning of January 2012...

Unfortunately, you'll have to get it in Japan.

That reminds me - currently, the only restaurant in the USA (that I know of) serving Mangalitsa pizza is Domenica, in New Orleans. That's a John Besh restaurant.

Just a month ago, Serious Pie in Seattle had Mangalitsa pizza. They were buying the raw material and curing it into products. They've since switched to different raw material and stopped serving Mangalitsa on their pizzas, despite what this recent blog post might imply.*

I find it fascinating to see what decisions companies make. They are all acting in what they perceive to be their self-interest. You might think that Domino's would never buy "luxury pork" to put on their pizzas - yet they are. And given how big Domino's is, even if just .1% of their pizzas have Mangalitsa on it, they'll probably buy tons of Mangalitsa.

* When the chef changes, you should expect menu and purchasing changes. Currently, almost nobody in the American market (unlike say, the Spanish or Hungarian market) really needs luxury pork on their menu. It is an obvious thing to drop.

Restaurant Week

Seattle has "Restaurant Week" now. During restaurant week, more than 100 restaurants offer a 3-course meal for $28.

Restaurants offer a special "value" menu in this period. Basically, they serve cheaper stuff. Servers brace themselves for a lot of work and low tips. Volume goes up, margins go down.

A lot of people are excited about restaurant week. Yet even if they eat at a nice restaurant, they aren't eating the food that makes that restaurant's reputation.

A lot of people who like to eat good food stay home during restaurant week, if only because their favorite haunts fill up with dilettantes.

My experience of restaurant week: Mangalitsa (aka luxury pork) sales crash during this period.

It reminds me of one person's comment on twitter, "Who wants some Mangalitsa Pork? The most rare/expensive pork money can buy. People hate ballers these days."

When I see Mangalitsa pork popping up in spoofs about pretentious restaurants, I cringe:

How does it work? Exactly 19 lucky souls (chosen at random from the membership rolls of Match.com and the New York City Municipal Credit Union) gather on the corner of Keelhaul Terrace and St. Flocellus Street in the Rottenwood section of Brooklyn exactly 19 minutes after sundown every evening (a security force of pensioned-off Guardian Angels enforces the temporal parameters), mill around aimlessly until the unmistakable rat-a-tat-tat of a driveby gang shooting is heard from two streets over, and then line up in ascending order of height along the curb while Blutwurst and his team race by on their vintage Schwinn Couriers and toss exquisitely crafted morsels (Mangalitsa pork-fat shooters, rattlesnake-and-cannabis hand rolls, rabbit tartare with catfish-liver crostini, and the like) — though never quite enough of them to go around —into the air above their heads. Hilarity ensues.

Ba Bar

UPDATE: Chef Chris Michael says it will be on the menu next week.

Ba Bar in Seattle should have a Mangalitsa special on the menu any minute now.

On Monday I dropped by late and talked with server Mike (left) and bartender Fairness (right).

Mike used to serve at Monsoon. He's a big fan of Mangalitsa neck. In fact, he was working at Monsoon when I last ate Mangalitsa neck there.

Servers are very important. If they like the food and think their guests will like it, they'll market it to them.

At Monsoon, Mike discovered that telling customers with a sense of humor that Mangalitsa was "luxury pork" was the easiest way to sell it. We laughed about that.

Mangalitsa Processing Class

There's some classes in New Jersey soon. Participants will slaughter, cut up, cook and cure Mangalitsa pigs.

The instructor is Christoph Wiesner.

Mosefund Farm is hosting the classes on October 28, 29 and 30.
There's another set of classes on November 4, 5 and 6.

You can read about Dr. Mike Eades's experience at a previous class at Mosefund here.

I talked with Michael Clampffer at Mosefund about their classes recently. They've still got openings. If you'd like to attend, you can reach him at 201-289-0210.

Monsoon's Mangalitsa Neck, Dr Mike and Mary Dan Eades & Kevin Crossman

I had a neat dinner Wednesday night with Dr. Mike Eades, Dr. Mary Dan Eades and Kevin Crossman at Monsoon on Seattle's Capitol Hill.

We all chose the Mangalitsa neck, of course. That's a favorite cut of the Eadeses. Both Mike and Mary Dan know Mangalitsa inside and out.

Kevin and I were planning to do some aerial acrobatics Wednesday night, but then Mike emailed me that he'd be in town, and wanted to know if we could get Mangalitsa neck at Monsoon.*

Kevin was happy to join us. He's a paleo athlete, world-class stairclimber and big fan of the Eadeses.

It was great fun. The Mangalitsa neck was awesome!


* I was tasked with making sure that indeed, the Mangalitsa would be on the menu, because had it not been on the menu, we would have eaten somewhere else.

Tomostyle on Robert Cortez

The blog Tomostyle has a post on Robert Cortez. It says:

I am still consumed with emotion during the Mangalitsa pork dish, moist short ribs glazed in a rich bone sauce with ginger lacquered grilled peaches that shine bright with end-of-summer sweetness. There is a silky ecru corn cob velouté that tastes just like corn cob, a perplexing delight of sweetness and earthiness that blossoms in the company of puffed black quinoa and hearty farro.

"Consumed with emotion" - sounds right.

Mangalitsa for Entertaining

5 dishes with Mangalitsa

I've been cooking Mangalitsa for others lately.

I've been astounded at how forgiving this stuff is. Even overcooked, it still tastes really good.

If you cook things like crab or clams, you can overcook them and blow the meal. It is pretty much impossible to do that with Mangalitsa belly or even hunks of meat.

When I serve others Mangalitsa the first few times, it usually blows them away. It isn't like I'm particularly good at cooking this stuff. Although I've had a lot of practice, I normally keep it very simple.

Sweet potatoes fried in lard

I didn't prepare the meal above, but it is simple enough that I might have. Dinner was dehydrated bacon, portobello mushrooms fried in lard, sweet potato fries fried in lard, salad with Mangalitsa bacon, seaweed salad, pickled vegetables of various sorts and some sirloin cutlets. Delicious.

I'm reminded of Rebekah Denn's article (which won her a James Beard award), on Mangalitsa belly:

...This fat-laden cut — belly with some small ribs — is sinfully rich and salty-sweet. By the time it left its slow braise and joined some glazed turnips and Brussels sprouts on the plate it was practically pork candy, or the pig equivalent of foie gras. It was so tender and moist it fell apart at the touch of a fork.

Dining on any more than a small square of the meat would overwhelm any rational appetite — the serving shown in the picture, I realized after taking a few bites, would feed two or three. The foie comparison carries over to the serving size...

I am not usually one to eat the fat off any form of meat. It tastes foul, the texture is rubbery, and it’s terrible for your health. With the melting mouthfuls on this young pig, though, I get how people can nibble at it until their lips glisten.

I’ll be buying that cut and making this dish the next time I want to make dinner guests swoon.

When I have a make-or-break dinner, I do it with Mangalitsa, like the one shown above.

I don't bother wasting my time trying to find and then prepare beef or seafood. That's just way outside my comfort zone. I'm almost certainly going to screw that up and then feel like an idiot for not using Mangalitsa the first time around.

Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa Pigs in the News

Bradley S. Pines/Special to the Kalamazoo Gazette

I found this Mangalitsa-related article today - a chef is buying pigs for a special dinner from my customer Dan Hiday. I'm happy to see Mangalitsas getting the respect they deserve.

It is too bad the journalist misspelled Mangalitsa.

I really wonder what these pigs would think if they knew how incredible they taste, and in what high regard quality-sensitive Americans hold them. To think that they get written up in the paper - yet they are only pigs. There's plenty of humans who won't ever make the paper.

My own understanding of pigs tells me that if they knew there was some really great food out there, they'd want to eat it. Even if it meant consuming other pigs.* Such is the Way of the Pig.

* pigs are eager cannibals. They'll eat their babies if they feel like it. They'll eat each other alive.

Garden and Gun on Fatback Collective

Wright Thompson, participant-observer

Garden and Gun has an article by Wright Thopmson on the Fatback Collective competing with Mangalitsa pigs at Memphis in May.

Wright was embedded with the barbecue team. He stayed up all night with Sean Brock while the pigs were grilling.

I can remember him scribbling a lot on his notepad. I remember thinking to myself, "there's no way he's going to be able to read those notes later," because what he was writing looked absolutely unintelligible, and he seemed quite drunk.

Fatback Collective wins 3rd.

But reading the article, Wright has incredible recall. Reading his article, I recall it. That's how it happened.

It is great to think that someone can have a great time, be on a winning barbecue team, write about it, get paid and be incredibly likable.

Donald Link's Piglet

James Beard Ward-Winning Chef Donald Link is a Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa breeder. Above is a photo of forager Ashley Locklear holding one of his piglets.

Chef Donald Link

The first crawfish I ever at at a crawfish boil were cooked by Donald. They were produced by his cousin Billy, a rice farmer and crawfish producer, who drove them to Memphis from south Louisiana. It was a wonderful experience.

Here's a video showing Donald talking about the Mangalitsa we competed with in Memphis In May.

Suisun Valley Farm's Pigs and Products

Illtud has a post about Shane's pigs and products. I copied his photos here. You can find them and more on his blog.


I find it amazing that a bunch of ugly-looking, manure-covered pigs can produce such wonderful products.

It strikes me that the Mangalitsa pigs have no idea that they taste so much better than all the other pigs in the USA. They really produce some of the tastiest food made in the USA. If they only knew, it might go to their heads.

Another Wedge Oak Farm Photo

Wedge Oak Farm's photos keep trickling in.

If you live near Tennessee and want Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa pigs, call Karen at at 615-766-3773 for more info.

Mangalitsa Pig Porter WINS!

The Mangalitsa Pig Porter from Right Brain Brewery took home a GOLD MEDAL:

Likewise, Right Brain’s Mangalitsa Pig Porter took home the gold in the experimental beer category. The concoction, introduced this summer, is brewed using cold smoked Mangalitsa Pigs, and is just one of the several experimental brews offered by the Traverse City brewery.

Wedge Oak Farm

We sold some Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa pigs to Tennessee's Wedge Oak Farm.

Some of her pigs will turn up at the Memphis in May. The Fatback Collective took a trophy in Memphis a few months ago.

Call Karen at 615-766-3773 for more info.

Girls Love Mangalitsa Soap

If you are the sort of guy who gives girls presents, you might want to give them Mangalitsa soap.

I like Mangalitsa soap. It is slick and moisturizes the skin better than any other soap I've used. The slickness makes it great for shaving. However, my appreciation for the stuff is utilitarian; if the soap didn't work particularly well, I wouldn't use it.



My own little experience suggests that in general, girls like soap, the frillier the better.

The two young women pictured accosted me and asked if I had any soap for them, as if it was Halloween and I have to give them free stuff.* I hadn't given them any previously- a neighbor had. I'd given him the soap because he'd done me a favor.

This tells me that the soap from Lather Unusual is what girls crave.


Buy the soap.


* They are adults (old enough to smoke!), but somehow the soap gets them acting like little girls, expecting handouts. I gave it to them because I figured I'd get an easy blog post out of it.

Johnston County Hams - Cooking LIght

Johnston County Hams just won an award from Cooking Light Magazine -- best in meat for their Mangalitsa hams (made from our raw material).

As they explain, "We tasted products from around the country to find the best of the best from small-production food artisans."

ORDER THE HAMS HERE

It is no surprise that Johnston County Hams won; they are using Mangalitsa pigs.

People Don't Know their Pig Parts

CrossFitter enjoying some Mangalitsa lardo

There's an article that talks up lard and lardo. Wonderful!

But then rather than using a photo of lardo or lard, they illustrate it with a picture of a cured pig jowl (guanciale). That looks a bit gross to me - there's a lot of glands in it, and they look a bit gross.

I'm guessing 99.99% of the Telegraph readers didn't spot the incongruity between the photo and the article. Why would they? At the same time, It took me about 1/10th of a second to notice it and have a cascade of emotions about it.

Paleo Diet Update

Me after starting a Mangalitsa/paleo diet

We took some photos of Spider Club. You can see me and others doing aerial tricks.

What I eat

I mention it here because I'm eating a lot of Mangalitsa (meat and especially fat), and am in the best shape I've ever been. You can see plenty of people who've radically improved their body composition similarly at robbwolf.com.

After Mangalitsa/paleo diet

Robb Wolf helped me construct a Mangalitsa-based paleo diet/exercise program. I eat a ridiculous amount of Mangalitsa (meat and especially fat). I'm fairly low-carb (150g/day or so on workout days, less on off days), so that means I need to eat lots of Mangalitsa fat - a bit like these guys.

At Robb's advice, I'm doing heavy lifting to get bigger and stronger. I'm around 12% body fat. I'm stronger and leaner than I've ever been.

Before Mangalitsa/paleo diet.

Here's a photo of me from 2007. I'm wearing a few layers, but you can see I was fat like a Mangalitsa back then.

It blows my mind that eating fat pigs can turn a two-legged fat pig into fairly lean and strong monkey.

Nancy Leson on Her Mangalitsa Pancetta

Some people told me they couldn't download and play the KPLU file, so I reencoded it and put it here.

KPLU, our local radio station, has an episode online of "Food for Thought" where Nancy Leson talks about how wonderful her Mangalitsa pancetta (made from our raw bellies) turned out.

She made it at the class put on by Heath Putnam Farms, Serious Pie (a Tom Douglas restaurant) and Slow Food Seattle.

Basically, she made what she thought was the best bacon ever. Not a surprise for those who know Mangalitsa.

If you want to buy our Mangalitsa bacon, I recommend Chef Shop: 1425 Elliot Ave W, Seattle. 206-286-9988

If you want to eat Mangalitsa pancetta, you might try some of the Serious Pie locations in Seattle. Ask your server if anything on the menu is made from our Mangalitsa pork; the Serious Pie menu changes regularly.

If you want to buy some Mangalitsa pancetta, I recommend Salumeria Biellese (make sure you ask for the Mangalitsa pancetta). They've bought tons (literally) of our bellies, turing them into pancetta. I haven't tried any, but the lardo they made from our fatback was fantastic.

Erno Hollo's First Litter

Dr. Erno Hollo (here's his veterinary clinic in Basking Ridge, NJ) just got his first litter of Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa pigs out of his sow.

I'm relived he finally got some pigs from her. Although we think we shipped her to him bred, it seems she aborted.

I've written about him on this blog before. Here you can see some of his beautiful pigs.


The fear was that she'd gotten fat and barren. But then, after being rebred at Mosefund, she had 7 piglets.
Here's an article that mentions Dr. Hollo and Mosefund Farm, another much bigger farm, that also bought pigs from Heath Putnam Farms.

Paleo Comfort Foods

There's a book, "Paleo Comfort Foods". There's a website, paleocomfortfoods.com. I got sent an advance copy.

There's many recipes in it. If you like cooking, this will give you ideas on how to make paleo versions of non-paleo recipes.

My own cooking is very simple. I am curious to try a few of the easy recipes.

Pictures of Paleo Dieters

Paleo dieters

Heath Putnam Farms donated a bunch of food to WOD Fest. We fed the volunteers and some competitors.

The food was paleo. Mike Porter, the guy behind WOD Fest and WOD Club, prepared some fresh ham and cheeks. We also served slices of cured Mangalitsa loin (aka "loin bacon"), roasted sweet potatoes and watermelon slices.[1]

People particularly liked the Mangalitsa. They hadn't eaten it before; the first time is usually amazing. Now we've got photos showing people eating the stuff for the first time.

Child eating Mangalitsa for the first time.

I asked people if they were paleo. Many said yes.[2] I took photos, shown below, of the self-reported paleo dieters.

Many of the self-reported paleo dieters, particularly the guys, said they eat high-fat and low-carb.[3]

Athletes need a lot of calories, so when they eat low-carb, they necessarily eat high-fat. CrossFitters who eat paleo and low-carb show that it is possible to eat a lot of fat - an amount of fat that most Americans consider excessive - and be fit.[4]

So below are some photos of paleo dieters, many of them who consume what typical Americans would consider ridiculous amounts of fat.

Besides the free roasted Mangalitsa ham and lard-poached cheeks which they ate on the spot, I gave out some free lard and lardo to take home. Many of them are pictured eating the Mangalitsa or holding Mangalitsa products like lard and lardo:

Eating fatty roasted Mangalitsa ham

Eating sweet potatoes

[1] Mike put a rub on the ham and slow-roasted it. Then he sliced it up. The day of the event we reheated it in an electric skillet. He confited the cheeks in Mangalitsa lard. We served that out of crock pots. People loved Mike's cooking. He emailed me later:

I wanted to thank you for coming out to the WOD event yesterday and your meat was a hit. Everyone who ate it loved it. Thanks a lot and look forward to doing it again next year.

[2] All the paleo dieters I asked said they knew of Robb Wolf. Many said they listened to his podcast.

[3] One person, pictured above, explained that since switching from a standard American diet to a paleo diet, she went from 230 pounds to 155 pounds. Another woman is 40 pounds lighter.

[4] One of the athletes explained that since going paleo and low-carb (and high-fat), his triglyceride levels and blood pressure improved.