It's Mangalitsa, not Mangalista

A lot of people who like Mangalitsa pork or pigs have trouble spelling M-A-N-G-A-L-I-T-S-A.

There is no L-I-S-T in Mangalitsa. Mangalitsa rhymes with "pizza". It does not rhyme with "Sandinista".

In German, it sounds something like "Man-ga-leet-za". In Hungarian, something like "Mon-ga-leet-sa", as in the video above (roughly 42 seconds in).

Negro Lampino - Wu-Tang Pigs

The picture above shows a Negro Lampino. That is the most Mangalitsa-like Iberico breed. Of the various Iberico breeds, it is the most fat-prone, tasty, slow-growing and least profligate.

Here's a Negro lampino from a Spanish website, that shows the different breeds that can be called "Iberico" - in the sense of jamon Iberico.

Wu-Tang Pig

The question - what is this pig here? It is a youngish pig. It is all black, almost hairless. It is very lardy. It looks an awful lot like the Negro Lampino in the middle. Hopefully one day it will look like the ridiculously fat one above.

Did someone import Iberian Black swine? Sure, Wooly Pigs imported Mangalitsa pigs and produces them in the Western Hemisphere. Wooly Pigs has what it takes to import Iberian Black pigs - and could conceivably make money doing it - suddenly we'd be your one-stop shop for super-premium Europigs.

But did Wooly Pigs actually do it?

Let's see if anyone figures it out.

ANSWER

The bottom pig is a Mangalitsa x Meishan F1. They are 100% lard-type, so their meat will be excellent. The F1 Mangalitsa x Meishan sows ought to produce many more pigs than Mangalitsa sows. Bred to a Mangalitsa boar, they will produce 75% mangalitsa (25% Meishan) market hogs, which ought to keep our customers happy while allowing us to reduce costs.

Finally, Wu-Tang Pigs are a reality. There's even a web domain - wutangpigs.com - but for now, it is the same as mangalitsa.com, woolypigs.com and heathputnam.com.

Austrian Diner

New York, Austrian, gourmet Bratwurst, Mangalitsa, duck, shrimp, etc. -- I was not surprised to see Daniel Angerer at it again.

Riley Starks,Willows Inn, Blaine Wetzel

Riley's pig grown up - approx 400 pounds. Photo by Joe Ray, from his blog.

I just got back from meeting Riley Starks in Seattle. We met in a parking lot. He brought the money, I brought the goods - Mangalitsa pork and some belly speck.

I haven't seen him since I delivered a pig up to his place. His business, Willows Inn is doing well. There's been a big change - he's got an incredible resident chef, Blaine Wetzel, former sous chef at Copenhagen's Noma. Noma is one of the best restaurants in the world.

In many great restaurants, it is the sous chefs or the chef de cuisine - not the executive chef - who actually makes the food. That's because the executive chef is normally busy running the business of the kitchen - e.g. finding/buying stuff, managing the schedule, etc. So if nothing else, you know that Blaine Wetzel can cook.

Riley said that after only 3 weeks, it is clear they've got better food than ever before. He's got to do it that way; his place is so remote, you need a reason (e.g. great food) to go there.



I'm happy to sell him Mangalitsa pork. Obviously, if he needs to impress his guests, its the right thing to buy. Typical example - gourmet bratwurst.

I told him he needs to call our mutual friend, Chris Weber (at the Herbfarm), and have Chris explain to him how to make those 2-month hams, because I had some frozen hams for him.

The video shows his pig when she was still young. As the picture at top shows, she's now ridiculously big and fat. That's how they get.

I asked Riley if maybe he'd keep her alive, as a pet and something for his guests to look at, but that's not in the cards. She's going to be food.

Suisun Valley Farm's Pigs

Photo by Shane Petersen

Shane Petersen and his wife (Suisun Valley Farm) sell Mangalitsa pigs to The French Laundry and other high-end Bay Area restaurants.* Heath Putnam Farms sells them feeder pigs, which they fatten on their farm.

They are hobby farmers - but very serious about their hobbies.

In addition to making his own beer, lardo and pancetta, Shane makes his own saucisson sec. His wife is expert at cutting up pigs - she cuts up pigs better (less waste) than most "artisanal" butchers. They cook sous vide, in a sous vide rig that Shane built himself.

Photo by Shane Petersen

If you are a professional who has ever dreamed of being a farmer, cook, brewer, etc. producing really great food & drink -- well, they are doing it right now, because they like doing that sort of thing.

Finally, in addition to being ridiculously competent, they are very nice people.


* Call Shane at 707-815-0039 to order your Mangalitsa now.

5-State Wiesner Tour

The Wiesners are going on a 5-state tour. I previously reported they'd be going on a 4-state tour, but I decided it would be good if they visited Missouri.

There'll be a one-day event in St. Louis. If you've got ideas, please let me know. Do you want to see how to cut up a pig? Or do you want him and his wife to show you how to cook something yummy out of pig parts that you don't normally eat? Show you how to make speck?

Please let me know - you can email me at hp@woolypigs.com.

Mangalitsa Pork Belly Waffle -- A REMINDER

As reported on this Capitol Hill web site, the Mangalitsa pork belly waffle debuts next weekend (September 25-26) at Monsoon.

I wrote all about it here.

I'll be going there Sunday (26th).

If you've ever needed an excuse to enjoy Monsoon's famously excellent brunch, this is it.

Italian Gourmands on Mangalitsa Cured Products

I found this Italian web page discussing Mangalitsa ham. It says in translation (according to Google):

Salumi di Mangalica: Speck, Ossocollo e Spalletta affumicata Salami Mangalica: The breed of pig Mangalica originated in Hungary and has the characteristic of living in the wild and to be fed exclusively with sunflower seeds and tubers, and acorns. The ham Mangalitsa, is produced with meticulous care by a small artisan in San Daniele and is really special! The meat melts in your mouth and is unsaturated fat, like olive oil and is a great help to combat cholesterol Ham ... that competes with the Pata negra!

It is neat to see Italians saying Mangalitsa products are great, seeing as they've got their own Italian products to be proud of. Their own pigs have genetics that target the bottom and middle of the market, not the high end - which the Iberico and Mangalitsa dominate.

You can order your domestic Mangalitsa hams here - on the Johnston County Hams website.

Mangalitsa Chef's Pizza Dough

Bryce Lamba, aka Mangalitsa Chef gave me his Mangalitsa lard-based pizza dough recipe. It is similar to Jimmy Fiala's focccacia recipe, in that it uses Mangalitsa lard.

Actually, he didn't "give" me the recipe. He sent it to me, and then the next time he saw me, he essentially coerced me into giving him a packet of Rufus's excellent Mangalitsa ham. It was my last packet, which (like the last stick of gum) is worth 5x every previous packet.

Foodista Recipes (with photos) are here:
Mangalitsa Speck Pizza
Mangalitsa Speck and Chanterelle Pizza
Fig and Mangalitsa Speck Pizza

Pizza Dough

1 1/4 C warm water or beer
1 tsp dry active yeast
1 pinch sugar (1/4 tsp)
1 C all purpose flour


Mix above ingredients and place in warm spot in kitchen for thirty
minutes.


2 C all purpose flour
4 Tbl Mangalitsa lard
1/4 tsp salt or more if desired


1) Mix all ingredients together and form into a ball. Place in non reactive container.

2) Pour 1 Tbl olive oil on top to cover dough.

3) Wrap container in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

4) Remove dough from cooler 30 minutes to one hour before using and bring up to room temperature.

5) Punch down and divide into for equal parts. Roll into a dough
ball. Using a little extra flour roll out into pizza skins and grill
or BBQ until skins set up.

6) Top with favorite ingredients and finish in oven or grill.
Alternately bake on pizza stone in oven.

7) Enjoy.