Pigs appeal in paddock or pot

BY CHRIS FORTUNE

This little pig went to market ...

A pig is a pig is a pig, you would think, but the adverse publicity and ongoing flu season has seen pork getting a bad name. Are our porkers to blame, or are they just the scapepigs?

The World Organisation for Animal Health says the name swine flu was a misnomer, as the virus has origins among birds and humans as well as pigs. There is no risk of the virus infecting people who eat well-cooked pork and pork products.

New Zealand exports of pork are worth less than $3 million a year. We import just over 40 per cent of our pork, much of it from North America, and the meat must be cooked or treated.

I had the privilege of spending several days on a piggery where I met all of the animals, fed them, petted them and ate them. It was indeed a privilege and I hope the feeling was mutual.

Soggy Bottom Holdings in Hamilton are purveyors of rare-breed meats and keep tamworth, large black and wessex saddleback pigs, which are traditional British outdoor breeds. They have healthy litters, are good mothers and produce tasty meat.

They also breed European wild boars, which are slower growing with a stronger-flavoured meat much like the wild pork from Premium Game in Marlborough.

Over the days, my views on pigs changed. I found them intelligent, affectionate and full of character. I hope the feeling was mutual.

They sound expensive, I hear you say; they must be gourmet and only for the well-to-do folks. Well, kilo for kilo, you are buying real meat and smallgoods that are not injected with water or bulked out with fillers.

The best thing about Soggy Bottom pork – it tastes like pork. The focus on producing the best and using good animal husbandry has to be worth more than imported pork any day.

PORK HOTPOT

The easiest recipes are often the best, long and slow.

1 kg Premium Game wild pork or New Zealand scotch fillet pork, diced

2 Tbsp grape seed oil

2 onions, diced

2 medium kumara, peeled and cubed

4 medium potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced

1 Tbsp curry powder

1 cup chicken or vege stock

1 x 400g can tomatoes

Juice of 1 lemon

1 Tbsp flour

1 cup cream

1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped

Peas – optional

Place pork and all vegetables in a crock-pot, cover with lid and cook for 5 hours as per instructions in your crock-pot manual. Add peas 15 minutes before serving in large, deep bowls with crusty bread.

- The Marlborough Express