pork

Meathings
10/23/2010 - 16:53

So I have some awesome things to look forward to!

Next weekend Locavore Hunter Jackson Landers, who taught my hunting class, will be in NYC for a goose-cooking event in my Brooklyn neighborhood! The NYtimes just covered the event, so it might sell out soon!

Then in November there is Pigstock! I've blogged about mangalitsa before and I'm excited to participate in this event where slaughter, butchery, and cooking will be taught! Guess who will be there? Dr. Eades and Sally Fallon! If you are a butcher, farmer, or just want to be an educated consumer, I suggest checking these workshops out!

Also I've blogged a bit about problems with the meat infrastructure in this country. Lack of slaughterhouses, transportation options, and onerous laws mean that good grassfed/pastured meat is more expensive than it really has to be. While I'm excited about infrastructural projects like mobile slaughterhouses, I think this is a problem that needs many solutions. Eating Paleo in NYC has been doing "meat shares" for awhile. We contract directly with farmers to purchase entire animals and distribute them amongst our members. We've sold out every time, but I've found that "cowpool" model doesn't work so well with very large groups. Trying to share an animal equally doesn't work very well because different parts are worth different amounts of money. Our next meat share is mostly composed of paleos, but also of garden variety locavores, so it has its own meatup here: 

A major challenge is that the average consumer is used to going to a store and picking out what they want among a selection of cuts. When you invest in a real live animal you are not sure how much the animal will weigh at the slaughter date or in many cases how much of each cut you'll get. In this meatshare we are investing in the purchase of some animals and people will get to purchase cuts. It's a little like gambling, except you won't lose money. The worst thing that happens is that you might not get the cuts you want and then I'll have to try to sell them to someone else, which shouldn't be a problem since I now have a huge chest freezer (TOTALLY WORTH IT) and I might just end up eating it myself...

Once I get a website for the concept up, I hope to add the ability to chose some cuts. I'm also in talks with some awesome local butchers to bypass the slaughterhouse completely and do on-farm slaughter/educational events. Some guy I met at a tech meetup said that this really has limited appeal, but whatev, since slaughter events regularly SELL OUT in NYC. People want the connection and I think it's important to see how hard and messy getting the meat to your table actually is. I've also learned a lot about cooking and buying from attending such events, though I'm still a bit of a meat n00b.

Comment?: 2
Mangalitsa Supper Club
08/21/2010 - 19:48

I told you that the Wooly Pigs were coming. Thanks to Heath Putnam at Wooly Pigs and Debragga Butchers, several lucky members of of Eating Paleo in NYC got to taste Mangalitsa pork. When I got to the Debragga loading dock I was surprised when they gave me a GINORMOUS box of pork belly from New Jersey's Mosefound Farms. I mean, I'm pretty short, but I think this was 70% of my height and 20% of my weight. I didn't realize we'd get so much, so I had brought along a pathetic little tote and had the idea that I would pick it up, get some tea at Chelsea market, and take the F to the Lower East Side. Nope. I hoisted it up and carried it over my head (thank God for Movnat!) and attempted to hail a taxi in the blistering NYC heat.

So we had plenty of meat...really really good meat. And while I do like to cook, I don't normally deal with 20 pounds of meat and I admittedly don't mind taking some cooking shortcuts if it's just for myself. But this we had to do right...luckily Lee, our host for the dinner, happened to know the chef at Antibes Bistro downstairs. He generously helped instruct us on the art of doing pork belly right, which involved blanching, drying, searing, and braising in red wine for a really really long time. Thank you Lee for babysitting that overnight and Chef David for making sure we didn't completely destroy everything and also for saving the reduction that we totally burned!

Cutting and scoring the belly

I can't say we followed his instructions perfectly, but it still turned out wonderfully! It was crispy and melted in your mouth with succulent flavor. We devoured it all within an hour. I think the method was very similar to the one used by Thomas Keller in Ad Hoc at Home.

Mmm, berries brought by a member!

The delicious finished product! Thank you Wooly Pigs and Debragga!

I admittedly still have some fat and skin which I plan on making some treats with. Maybe they will be served at our next meetup!

* Tip : a coupon for Debragga's online store will be available at Blackboardeats Everywhere next week!

Comment?: 1
The Wooly Pigs are COMING!
08/15/2010 - 18:49

The Eating Paleo in NYC Meetup is having a big supper club Wednesday and I've found that yes, Twitter is really useful. I bet you are wondering WTF is that pig? Well, it's a Wooly Pig, AKA a mangalitsa. Mangalitsa are from Hungary, which is one of my favorite travel destinations, but I've also eaten them in Austria. What makes them special is not their furry coats, but their ample stores of luscious fat. Unlike American breeds, Mangalitsa are bred to be as fatty as possible and selected for their fat quality. Because of this, they are known as a lard-type pig. Thanks to the low-fat craze, lard-type breeds in the United States almost died out, but in Hungary they flourished.

Farmer Heath Putnam was as impressed as I was by this delicious pork and he decided to import and promote the breed as Wooly Pigs. Thanks to him, the breed has gained a following in the world of haute cuisine. More quietly, it has also gained popularity among people following paleo, traditional, and low-carb diets. If you want lots of good fat... these pigs have more than enough to go around! 

When Heath heard about our supper club on Twitter, he generously offered to donate some Mangalitsa to our menu! I'm not sure what cut it will be, but if you have free time on Monday or Tuesday and want to help me cook it, let me know. The meat comes via Debragga, an excellent butcher in Manhattan (and perhaps the next stop in our paleo walking tour?). If you are looking for things like lard and other fatty meat...they have it! I feel so lucky to live in a city where paleo can flourish thanks to other symbiotic movements like adventerous eating and traditional foods. Even if it means you have to devote most of your income to living in a teeny tiny apartment with 50 other people...well, as least you can use the rest to buy delicious LARD.

There is one spot left for the dinner, but I'd be happy to offer another to anyone willing to help me cook.

Comment?: 6
Fatty Cue
05/24/2010 - 20:26

Is that scary or what? It's the half pig's head at hipster Williamsburg BBQ joint Fatty 'Cue. But pigs head is the best kept secret out there. It's fatty fat flavored fat. And this was more than enough for me and two guys. The best parts- the fatty jowls and cheeks. The parts I let the guys have- the brains and eyes. The tough skin and the bones went to some lucky dogs.

Most species that eat meat prize the head over any other part. Killer whales often just eat parts of the head and leave the rest to scavengers. Native Americans that made big kills often did the same. The head has tons of fat- and the brain particularly is a great source of DHA. 

At Fatty Cue it also comes with pork rinds and a delicious pineapple curry that was perfect for cutting the fattiness of the meal.

Comment?: 3
High Point Farms
04/27/2010 - 10:27

Do you want to eat local grassfed pastured meat, but you have trouble finding it? Grassfed meat is much healthier than the average meat at your grocery store, but it can be hard to track down at your local farmer's market. A CSA, community-supported agriculture program, is a great way to get great meat consistently. It's also very convenient for busy people- instead of getting up early and going to the farmer's market, you can pick up your meat once a week.

I'm already a member of The Piggery, which is sold out, but there is a new meat CSA in NYC you should check out. High Point Farms does beef, dairy, pork, and eggs. They drop off at an excellent local bar, Jimmy's No. 43.

Comment?: 1
Momofuku
03/01/2010 - 15:08

Learn how to really use lard and to make delicious and nourishing Asian dashi stocks.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/030745195X?ie=UTF8&tag=trevresa-20&linkCode=as2...
Comment?: 0
Hungary for pork?
02/10/2010 - 20:22

Hungary is one of my favorite travel destinations, partially because of the pork. The Hungarian Mangalica breed is a wooly fatty beast that makes one hell of a sausage. Some Americans have imported the breed, but the Hungarians really know how to make a spicy sausage right. Also delicious in Hungary is the incredible goose liver! And duck! Hungary has some delicious meat, and with the Forint pretty low, eating well (and paleo!) is affordable. I suggest Cafe Kor, where I ate absolutely the best silky tender goose liver with sour cherries. Besides that Hungary is a beautiful country with a culture that is fairly exotic to most Americans. 

Didn't eat the bread or the onions...eeeewww

I digress, because the reason I was reminded of all this was that one of my favorite Hungarian food blogs just posted about the winter Mangalica festival. Of course there is a comment from someone who admits that while this pork is delicious, they don't want to eat much because "I look at my Hungarian neighbours - don't want to be like them, diabetes and high blood pressure and..." I just saw another comment like this recently- someone was saying how they are vegan because their Polish family suffers from so many health problems because they eat meat. 

Hmm, which do you think is the problem: a food we have been eating for millions of years without a problem (meat) or the absurd amount of sugary desserts and alcohol that many Central and Eastern Europeans consume? These were my nemesis as I traveled through these countries. In Hungary most people were drinking shots of a fairly heavy brandy called Palinka alongside their sausages. Next to the sausage stand was a stand selling cakes and doughnuts and another selling FRIED bread doused with cheese. Yeah, it has to be the meat's fault. 

 

 

Comment?: 3
Creepy Jar Society
02/04/2010 - 21:57

 

Image from MARTHA STEWART, she is badass

My fridge is full of jars of creepy goo. At least my roommates thing that. But the truth is that those jars hold liquid gold! I love jars, as they are easy to clean fat off of and don't leech plastic byproducts. But I love what's in those jars more:

  • Stock! Just save your bones and put them in your crockpot with water on low for 24 hours and you get a brew rich in minerals like calcium and delicious savory flavor. Use it to make soups or just drink it! Don't ever throw away bones, even weird ones like pork and buffalo, make decent stock. The fat that floats to the top is good because it forms a cap that keeps the stock fresh for months. Once you break the fat cap, use within a week. If the stock is relatively new, I use it as a fat to saute vegetables for soup in.
  • Pig juice! I make pork belly all the time. I just throw the belly in the crock pot on low overnight with a salt brine. The end result is pork belly, which I brown and eat, and a rich brown liquid. I put it in a jar and the fat floats to the top. The fat can be used to cook anything with, but often I just dump the whole jar in a crock pot with a lean cut of meat like wild boar or pork tenderloin to transform it into something delicious. I used to love lean meat, but since going paleo I realize it is inferior...fortunately pig juice saves it. 
  • Pig jelly! I don't have it anymore, but it was a crock full of rilettes from a farmer friend. Rilettes are delicious lard and delicious meat combined into an unholy medley of wonder and happiness. Spread on some lettuce, seaweed, or some less fortunate cut of meat. 
  • Some buffalo marrow bones from the farmer's market. Put them in a cooking pan with sides and pop them in the oven..or even the toaster oven until the fat melts. Spread it on anything or eat it plan. 
  • Sardines I didn't like. The box said they were delicious, but really they were just fishy. Unfortunately they are healthy and cheap, so I am planning on forcing myself to like them. When people tell me they dislike X healthy food, I often recount how I have gradually forced myself to like various slimy sea creatures because they are so good for me. 

Stefansson also forced himself to like fish, you can read about it in his interesting book online:

Until I was twenty seven I had the belief about myself that I could not eat fish and felt certain that its taste was obnoxious to me. I thought it an interesting peculiarity and assumed that everyone else would think so and there were few things I told about so often as the fact that I was peculiar in that I could not eat fish. I think I might have lost the notion sooner if it had not formed such an excellent topic of conversation 

 

Comment?: 6
The Ultimate Super Bowl Snacks: Chicharrónes and Jerky
02/03/2010 - 18:51

The New York Times covers pork rinds, which I now have a huge craving for. Despite growing up in the South, I didn't learn to love these until I was older. A farmer friend of mine made some from the Momofuku recipe and they were incredible! They were crispy, crunchy, and full of lard and cilantro rather than some crappy grain. I have to admit I don't even care about the Super Bowl, I just want an excuse to eat these. Sadly, many people who make them fry in vegetable oil, rather than lard and they are very difficult to make, but I might try anyway out of sheer desperation. 

Also in the news is jerky, in NYmag. A delicious and expensive snack that I need to learn how to make pronto. Maybe look out for a jerky making class in NY from our jerky expert soon? BTW John Durant, who is our jerky making expert and founder, should be on the Colbert Report tonight?

Comment?: 0
What about the Okinawans?
01/30/2010 - 17:07

I hear it all the time: why not just eat a diet like the Okinawans, the healthiest and longest lived people in the world? Traditionally they ate rice, tofu, and almost no meat! Unfortunately after WWII Americans introduced bad foods like pork and now disease rates are increasing.

That's the conventional narrative at least. Honestly, I'm not sure about the Okinawan diet. Most of the people discussing it are Americans with some sort of ax to grind. I would love to hear some Okinawan voices tell us what they actually ate, but those are few and far between. 

Americanized nonsense "Okinawan Diet"

The picture that is painted from the actual studies available is pretty murky, but shows that what is being promoted as an Okinawan diet is cultural misappropriation for profit, with American nutritionists making $$$ passing off what ends up being a Mediterranean diet with rice as the secrets of Okinawan elders. 

The real traditional diet seemed to consist of yams, goat, pork, tofu, seaweed, and seafood harvested from the island. It seems like it was pretty similar to the diet of Kitava. After the devastation of World War II, importation of food increased and oils, sugar, flour, white rice, and other processed foods became staples. The narrative of fat consumption increase only takes statistics starting from World War II, so we really don't have much of an idea of how much fat was in the traditional diet.

We do know the the consumption of traditional foods like raw goat, yams, and seaweed decreased dramatically. Also, that domestic meat production didn't really change much after WWII and much of that increase was probably recovery from devastation of the war.  The increase of meat consumption came mostly from imported animals that were probably factory-farmed...or SPAM, which is now hugely popular there.  

It does seem that their traditional diet was high in carbohydrates from yams, but its nonsense make up an Okinawan Diet plan including foods that are nothing like what pre-WWII Okinawans consumed such as whole grain bread, olive oil,  soy milk, apples, and yogurt. The traditional Okinawan diet doesn't seem to be far from my own paleo diet, except for the soy . Fortunately, the harmful effects of that can be mitigated by fermentation. I occasionally consume some fermented soy since I am an Asian food enthusiast and I adore the taste of miso and ssämjang. Yam are controversial on the paleo diet, but personally I enjoy them without ill effects. I would say my own paleo diet is heavily influenced by Japanese cuisine and benefits from it tremendously. I could never tolerate a diet of just eggs and ground meat...I'm too much of a foodie and an omnivore for that!

Here is a recent paper on the importance of the yam, kombu, and pork offal in Okinawa. Paleo dieters could definitely benefit from the consumption of kombu, which is rich in iodine, and pork offal (feet, ears, blood, intestines), which is delicious and contains many important nutrients. The problem with this paper is that they assume that people threw away pork fat...I don't know of any agrarian culture that exhibits that kind of waste. They say akunuki is removal of fat, but it also seems to mean removal of astringent taste.  

Speaking of Japan, I was just reading this editorial by Swedish scientist Uffe Ravnskov:

 In a study of Japanese migrants in the United States the cultural upbringing was the strongest predictor of coronary heart disease. Those who were brought up in a non-Japanese fashion but preferred the lean Japanese food had a heart attack almost twice as often as those who were brought up in the Japanese way but preferred fatty American food.4

I think it's possible that the issue here was that they thought fat wasn't traditional for Japan, but it sheds light on the fact that fat doesn't seem to cause heat disease. 

 

 

Comment?: 4
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