Bakers Green Acres vs Michigan DNR

Here's a video about one of my customers, Mark Baker, of Baker's Green Acres, and his battle with the state of Michigan.

Mark wants your donations.

Inn At Ship Bay's Mangalitsa Products

Geddes from Inn at Ship Bay, the only farm-to-table restaurant I know of in Washington using Mangalitsa, sent me this photo.

I'm guessing the raw material came from the pigs pictured here.

Mangalitsa Breeder's Farm Hit By Tornado

Tyke Antonopolous, a Mangalitsa breeder and customer, got hit by a tornado.


Luckily no humans or pigs were harmed.

John Besh Writes About Mangalitsa Pigs

John Besh writes about his use of our Mangalitsa in his various restaurants.

John is one of the few chefs in the USA who breeds and fattens Mangalitsa pigs for his restaurant. That's commitment.

I've written before on this blog about Erick and Alon, just two of the Mangalitsa fanatics on Team Besh.

Michigan and Feral Pigs

As explained here, the state of Michigan is out to eliminate feral pigs.

Unfortunately, Mangalitsa pigs (and hybrids) have traits that make them look feral. E.g. long snouts & striped young.

Mark Baker, a farmer with some Mangalitsa purebreds (and crosses) is soliciting funds for his legal case against the state.

I think it will be terrible if, come April 1, Michigan authorities wipe out all the Mangalitsa pigs. It is hard to believe it could happen, but I'm not seeing anything to convince me they won't do it.

One Vanilla Bean Wins

A while back I made an offer to Charcutepalooza participants - basically, if someone would make a post about their Charcutepalooza Mangalitsa products, I'd pick the best and give them some good stuff. As I wrote, "I'll judge based on the skill used to craft the product and the photos you take of it."

One Vanilla Bean has won. Here's her winning post.

She wins a ham, made from our pigs, by Johnston County Hams.

Sold!

I've just executed an agreement to sell my pigs and brands and other intellectual properties to Mosefund, one of my oldest and best customers.

I'm almost out of the luxury pig and pork business - but I've still got meat to sell.

If you want to buy Mangalitsa, please call me at 253-508-3604. That includes lard, cured shoulders, raw meat, etc.

If you want live pigs - breeding stock or feeder pigs - I suggest you call Michael from Mosefund at 201-289-0210.

Part of my agreement with Mosefund includes a noncompete clause. I spent most of yesterday and the day before calling former live pig customers, explaining that for at least one year, I wouldn't be able to consult with them.

I've enjoyed helping all my customers and potential customers these last few years. Besides consulting with them, in cases where I couldn't serve consumers, or I felt a customer could serve them much better, I typically recommended the Mangalitsa products of others to the consumer, figuring it would be better for me in the long run. However, due to the noncompete, that stops right now.

Quick Hams

Mangalitsa ham on foodista.com

These guys in London did their hams the fast way. If you follow this link, there's more info. Mangalitsa hams produced that way taste incredible, but take very little time to produce. There's less risk of spoilage.

Nevertheless, some people fetishize bone-in hams, unaware that unless you've got your process down, there's a lot of things that can go wrong.

Here's a recipe for quick hams from The Herbfarm's Chris Weber on foodista.com

On the topic of hams, I should mention that here you can buy bone-in Mangalitsa hams, from Johnston County Hams.

Big News

Selling

Heath Putnam Farms is in the process of selling its pigs and brands to Mosefund.

There'll be more news about this in the future.


Victory Lap

I'm currently planning a trip to the Wiesner's in Austria. I'll get to learn (finally) how to cut up the pigs. I've cut up a bunch (along these lines), but I've never felt really good at it. By going when they'll be killing a bunch of pigs, I ought to get plenty of practice.

I've wanted to visit the Wiesner's farm for years, but running the business has prevented it. I think I view their farm the way Tolkein portrayed Lothlorien: a place of preservation that is "out of time". Right now, it is my idea of a perfect refuge.

After I come back, before I start my next thing, I'm thinking of doing a quick tour around the USA to visit customers (many of whom I've never met in person). Hopefully I'll be able to show them something.