James Beard award

Heartland's Lenny Russo and His Love Affair with the Mangalitsa

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. 

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Can There Ever Be Humane Foie Gras?

"Fat liver" is the literal translation of the French foie gras, the highly prized (by some) and much maligned (by others) food that is produced by force-feeding confined geese until their livers are 6 to 10 times their normal size. Highly prized because these fattened livers are considered a delicacy in French cuisine; and much maligned because of the animal cruelty associated with it.

But can there be such as thing as humane foie gras? Can a goose consume enough food in natural conditions to yield the "fatty, sweet, silky" taste that is so revered by foie gras aficionados?

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