Pig Parade January 26, 2009

The Mulefoot is Number 1 !!!! Check out the press release below.

The Pig Pageant – An Historical and Culinary First
By Don Schrider

Upperville, VA: On January 26, 2009, over 90 food professionals, chefs, food writers, and food connoisseurs gathered at Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, VA, to participate in a blind-tasting which compared pork from eight rare heritage breeds and one commercially available stock.

The point of the tasting was to demonstrate the wonderful culinary attributes rare breeds have to offer. “I could tell the flavors differed, but I liked nearly all. The Gloucestershire Old Spot was my immediate pick for first, as soon as I tasted it. But then all the others were good picks too.” Shannon Sollinger of The Loudoun Times-Mirror.

Each of these breeds has evolved to fit a certain region and farming system – some tending to produce copious amounts fat, others being naturally lean. For instance, the Tamworth is a lean grazing pig shaped to produce bacon, while the Ossabaw Island is a feral breed that stores large amounts of fat in the fall to survive the winter.

Because of the link of breed with production system/region, participating farmers each raised their breed in the manner best suited to producing a premium product. In this way tasting participants were exposed to a potpourri of flavors exemplary of these breeds as they should be raised.

The tasting was conducted blind – the breeds being served at numbered stations with numbered toothpicks to aide participants in identifying and scoring. After tasting, participants were asked to vote for their number one favorite before the breeds were revealed. “Two breeds tied for my first place, the Mulefoot and the Guinea Hog, the Gloucestershire Old Spots and Ossabaw Island tied for second. I actually can’t wait to locate a farmer who sells pork from any of these breeds. They were the best pork I have ever tasted!” said Kimberly Hartke, publicist for the Weston A. Price Foundation.

“The important lesson from the voting,” said Sandy Lerner of Ayrshire Farm, host of the tasting, “is that everyone in the room liked a different taste – and that the samples tasted different.”

The placements were as follows:
First place with 22 votes: the Mulefoot
Second place with 17 votes: the Gloucestershire Old Spots
Third Place with 16 votes: the Red Wattle
Tied for Fourth place with 7 votes each: the Tamworth and the Guinea Hog
Fifth place with 5 votes: the Hereford
Tied for Sixth place with 4 votes each: the Ossabaw Island and the commercial pork
Seventh Place with 1 vote: the Large Black
(Nine participants abstained from voting.)

This event was the largest comparison of pork breeds in North America to date and it successfully demonstrated that each of these breeds is valuable for the unique culinary experience it offers. To quote one attendee, Sandy Danielson of Farmer’s Delight Plantation, “These tastings have certainly opened our eyes about heritage vs. commercial breeds of livestock. Raising the heritage is certainly the route to go. It is a “win win” situation for all.”

The Pig Pageant – An Historical Event was produced through a partnership of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Humane Farm Animal Care, Slow Food USA, and Ayrshire Farm.

Special thanks goes out to the farmers who supplied the pork for the tasting:

Tamworth – Cove Branch Farm, Charles and Marilyn Barnes, New Castle, VA
Red Wattle – Sloans Creek Farm, Nathan and Ellen Melson, Dodd City, TX
Ossabaw Island – Marle Hill Farm, Byron and Ruth Childress, Manquin, VA
Mulefoot – Maveric Heritage Ranch Company, LLC, Arie McFarlen and Bret Kortie, Dell Rapids, SD
Large Black – Cabbage Hill Farm, Nancy and Jerry Kohlberg, Mount Kisco, NY
Hereford – Whitmore Farm, Will Morrow, Emmitsburg, MD
Guinea Hog – Maveric Heritage Ranch Company, LLC, Arie McFarlen and Bret Kortie, Dell Rapids, SD
Gloucestershire Old Spots – Ayrshire Farm, Upperville, VA