heritage pork

Lenny Russo knows meat, but he seems to have earned an honorary degree in fat. His description of the fat from the Mangalitsa (a rare-breed, lard-type hog) he has been serving at his restaurant lately is a script of subtle differences. Comparing it to conventionally raised pork fat, the Mangalitsa (from Provenance Farms in Taylor’s Falls) is at once more stable, yet softer; healthier, but more abundant;  high in unsaturated fat and oleic acid, yet richer-tasting; clean, but also decadent.

I’ll also add: this stuff is addictive. If a good pork chop beats strong and clean like a pop song, a Mangalitsa chop seems positively orchestral. 

Photo Credit: Jeremy Liebman, New York MagazineAlthough I grew up in New York - or, more likely, because I grew up in New York - I don't have very many oportunities to choose where I eat when I get back there. I'm not complaining - my trips are (happily) centered around friends and family, and my desire to sample the finest local food restaurants in town hasn't been a high enough priority.

Porketta is one of those recipes that you shove in the oven and forget about. The meat emerges tender and succulent. It serves a bunch of people, and the leftovers – sliced high and piled on crusty baguette, or slathered with bbq sauce on a soft, whole wheat bun, or diced and simmered in ragu for pasta – make things easy on the cook.

It’s one of those recipes that came to the Iron Range with Italian miners, was adopted by Czech neighbors and Norwegian farmers, and is now found on menus throughout the Twin Cities (and given an uptempo spin).

Ah, Spring is in the air! For my family, that means loads of birthday celebrations, along with Easter, Passover, and May Day. We celebrate whenever we can. Easter Sunday is an easy one to do with local, sustainable, and organic foods, especially if you live in Minnesota, land of the pig and root vegetable. The folks at TheKitchn.com have provided a terrific list of places to find sustainable ham (heritage breeds), just in time for Easter.