Mangalitsa Pork in the New York Press

Telepan's roast pork with roasted skin sauce.

Mosefund Farm sells Mangalitsa pork in New York City. We also sell Mangalitsa pork in New York City, via our distributor, DeBragga. One consequence of their being multiple sources for Mangalitsa is that there's more press about it.

For example, just from today, there's two articles in the New York media about Mangalitsa pork.

The first is an article about Bill Telepan using Mangalitsa pork from Mosefund. He recently competed in New York's Cochon 555 with a Mangalitsa pig from Mosefund.*

A Swallow-Belly Mangalitsa Pig

I like how Chef Telepan answered the question, "What's so special about this pork?"

"It's the fat," said Telepan. "There's something beautiful about this fat."

That means Telepan really gets it. He isn't just into Mangalitsa because the lean meat tastes the best. He's into the fat, which is a good thing, because Mangalitsa pigs are ridiculously lardy.

The article explains:

Telepan's menu follows that concept. The pig is prepared in 13 different forms, from "crispy bittys" (skin) to black pudding sausage (blood).

Items on Telepan's mangalitsa menu include bratwurst, pork belly confit, a donut with "lardo" (Italian cured fat) filling, and roasted pork with roasted skin sauce, among other porky delights.

Then there's a review in the New York Times of Veritas. Veritas buys our Mangalitsa from DeBragga.

As the caption explains, the Mangalitsa is reason enough to rush to eat at Veritas.

I like how they are using it:

A 2007 syrah from California’s north coast, for instance, the Pax Cuvée Christine ($76), was a lively companion to Mr. Hazen’s funky, superb Washington state Mangalitsa pork, brined in maple, roasted in rendered pork fat and served with braised, panko-crusted fried pork-neck meat, over wilted butter lettuce and charred tomatoes, with a dressing of whipped maple syrup, grape must and pork drippings.

A lot of readers might not understand what cut the neck (aka "coppa") is. Basically, the more flavored and marbled extension of the loin to the head. It is neat to think of making schnitzel out of the neck - that would be tasty. Of course, the Mangalitsa neck alone is awesome.

If you read the review, it is clear that the guys behind Veritas are players:

Mr. Hazen, known primarily as the kitchen force behind the mega-club restaurants Tao and Tao Las Vegas, has introduced to the restaurant a tightly focused, extremely flavorful and somewhat less expensive à la carte menu of aggressively American cooking, terrifically executed by Alexander Williamson, his chef de cuisine. The sommelier Rubén Sanz Ramiro matches the treasures of Mr. Smith’s cellar to it with both an eye toward value and a firm understanding of glee.

I'm honored they chose our stuff.

But wow, those guys sound intimidating. I can't help but feel like Richard Pryor in "Stir Crazy", where he and his partner-in-crime, Gene Wilder, feel they have to project an aura of toughness because they are swimming with the sharks.


* So far, all the Mangalitsa pigs that Mosefund has sold have been bred by us - but that's changing, now that Mosefund is farrowing their own Swallow-Belly Mangalitsa pigs.