As part of the Big British Food Fight season we’re rooting around in the background of our piggy friends here at 4Food and discovering the different cuts...
If you're confused about which bit comes from where and exactly how to cook it, don't worry - help is at hand. Top farmer and butcher Tim Wilson from The Ginger Pig Company shows us exactly where the main cuts come from on the animal so you know what to ask for next time you're in the butchers. Tim breeds Tamworth pigs on his farm in Yorkshire, where they have plenty of room to roam and rummage. This results in rich, tasty meat with good levels of flavour giving fat.
Here's Tim's introduction to the whole pig...
The pig has had an interesting relationship with us humans. The Egyptians thought it carried leprosy, while in China and Vietnam it is a symbol of prosperity and abundance. The Gauls loved hams at their banquets, with the bravest man given the upper part of the leg. If any other man disputed his right to it, there followed a fight to the death.
In the modern era to have cattle or sheep required large amounts of land and any farmer who tended them was a tenant, doing so for his lord. But a pig could be kept in a large garden. In Victorian England the pig was an important part of village life; fed on leftovers and fattened up in autumn, it was a valuable source of meat through the winter months for many people. With the onset of industrialisation, fewer people kept pigs and pork was just another thing to be mass-produced.
Nowadays, British pig farmers are facing a tough time, despite having some of the best welfare standards in the world, but there are good producers and butchers out there, so why not get involved: visit a farm or get something special from a butcher and try a bit of pork on your friends or family this month.
References:
The English Pig: A History; written by Robert Malcolmson and Stephanos Mastoris; The Hambledon Press, 1998
A History of Food; written by Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat; Wiley-Blackwell, 2008
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