From little acorns...
Vegetarians, sorry, there is nothing for you here.I have always loved pigs. As a child my favourite bedtime story was The Three Little Pigs. "Without acorns, there can be no pigs."and "without pigs there can be no ham."- and I would not be a happy man.
The Black Iberian Pig, also known in Portugal as Alentejano Pig, is a breed,Mediterraneus, of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) that is indigenous to the Mediterranean area. The Iberian pig, whose unique origin can be traced back to ancient times, is found in herds clustered in the central and southern territory of the Iberian Peninsula, in Portugal and Spain.
The Iberian pig is dark in colour, ranging from black to grey, with little or no hair and a lean body, thus giving rise to the familiar name "pata negra", or "black hoof". Because the animals live freely they are constantly moving around and therefore burn more calories than other species of pig. This in turn produces the fine bones typical of this kind of Jamón ibérico. At least a hectare of healthy dehesa ( oak forest) is needed to raise a single pig, and since the trees may be several hundred years old, the prospects for reforesting lost oak forest (dehesa) are slim at best. True dehesa is a richly diverse habitat with four different types of oak that are crucial in the production of prime-quality ham. The bulk of the acorn harvest comes from the holm oak (from November to February), but the season would be too short without the earlier harvests of Spanish oak and gall oak and the late cork oak season, which, between them stretch the acorn-chomping period from September almost to April. During the season each pig gobbles up acorns fallen from the trees at the astonishing rate of over twenty thousand acorns a day. I am in hog heaven
The Black Iberian Pig, also known in Portugal as Alentejano Pig, is a breed,Mediterraneus, of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) that is indigenous to the Mediterranean area. The Iberian pig, whose unique origin can be traced back to ancient times, is found in herds clustered in the central and southern territory of the Iberian Peninsula, in Portugal and Spain.
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“No flies on this little piggy” |
These Little Piggies went to Prada
Nursery Rhymes for the Blahnik Brigade
Twenty-one revamped, tongue-in-cheek, name-dropping nursery rhymes, This Little Piggy went to Prada is the must-have gift for yummy mummies. Politically incorrect, utterly frivolous and lots of fun. If the Sex and the City girls had a baby shower, it would be top of the gift list!
The Iberian pig is dark in colour, ranging from black to grey, with little or no hair and a lean body, thus giving rise to the familiar name "pata negra", or "black hoof". Because the animals live freely they are constantly moving around and therefore burn more calories than other species of pig. This in turn produces the fine bones typical of this kind of Jamón ibérico. At least a hectare of healthy dehesa ( oak forest) is needed to raise a single pig, and since the trees may be several hundred years old, the prospects for reforesting lost oak forest (dehesa) are slim at best. True dehesa is a richly diverse habitat with four different types of oak that are crucial in the production of prime-quality ham. The bulk of the acorn harvest comes from the holm oak (from November to February), but the season would be too short without the earlier harvests of Spanish oak and gall oak and the late cork oak season, which, between them stretch the acorn-chomping period from September almost to April. During the season each pig gobbles up acorns fallen from the trees at the astonishing rate of over twenty thousand acorns a day. I am in hog heaven
mmm... Cerdo Iberico..there are some cuts of pork available here ( Spain) which go against the grain of the meat..they are known as presa,secreto or Abanico and they are so delicious..I'm not sure exactly which part of the pig they are from but they melt in your mouth.
ReplyDeleteWe have Presa and secreto too.The Secretos is our favourite cut and yes it does.... just melt in your mouth.I think the presa is like the shank or foot, secreto is the best cut from the belly andI have never come across Abanico.
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