Monthly Archives: January 2011

Pork Chop Throw Down!

Ok, time for a four-way pork chop throw down!

In the one corner, we have a chop from the wooly pig itself, the Mangalitsa, the kobe beef of pork.

In another corner, we have a Berkshire chop, Berkshire being a heritage pig known for its high fat content.

Just arriving now to much fanfare, we have an organic, humanely raised Whole Foods pork chop.


Ooooops! Sorry, I forgot to take a picture. Just take my word for it, it looks like a pork chop.

And finally, we have, well, let’s just say it, the saddest excuse for pork chop I’ve ever seen, a standard supermarket chop from my local A&P.

Ooops again! Trust me, you don’t really want to see a pic of this poor sad thing.

A quick history lesson

Somewhere along the way pork chop producers and consumers lost their way. Pork producers actually bred the pork  that most people buy to be lean, dry, dull, tough, and tasteless. They did this on purpose. And pork consumers inexplicably went along with it. Because it’s supposedly good for you.

Balls to that. I don’t know the whole story, but it apparently ties in with the pork industry’s “other white meat” campaign that started in the 80’s, and was apparently very successful in conning Americans into eating this tasteless crap.

Based on a few minutes of googling my extensive research, it seems there are three types of pig to choose from. All of them are descended from the original wild boar, they’ve just been bred in different ways for different purposes. (I have no idea what sort of beast might have preceded the wild boar, like the auroch that preceded the modern cow, but I’d love to find out?)

Speaking of wild boars, here’s some wild boar graffiti a friend found in Hawaii:

Ok, back to the three types of pig. You have the bred-for-fat category, to which the Mangalitsa belongs. These pigs have been bred to be extremely fatty. And they are. Next, you have the bred-for-meat category, which includes Berkshire pigs. Not as much fat as the Mangalitsas, but there’s still plenty there. And then you have the sad, sad, bred-to-taste-like-dry-toast-only-worse category, which is the source of almost all of the pork that most people eat these days. Sigh.

Getting back to the throw down

Let’s start with the obvious loser here. This guy never even had a chance. Of course I’m talking about the supermarket chop from A&P.

I sous-vided this poor guy a lot longer than the others, for about 8 hours, cuz I knew it would need it. I also cheated a bit by adding a big dollop of bacon fat to the bag before it went into the Sous-Vide Supreme. Actually considering what kind of chop it was and where I bought it, it wasn’t too horrible. Not particularly good either. I can ‘t imagine how horrible it would have been if it had gone straight from the fridge to the pan. Shoe leather. No wonder people slather their chops with all sorts of sauces and stuff. You gotta do something to help this sad excuse for food.

Next up is the chop from Whole Foods. Yes, Whole Foods. You know, our vegan conflicted friends who sell you meat but because they feel really bad about it they make you walk by an obnoxious stand promoting ridiculous books like the China Study and insane quack Dr. Joel Furhman’s Eat to Live.

Lordy.

I cooked the Whole Foods chop about 4 hours in the sous-vide machine. It was fattier and tastier than the dreadful A&P chop, but it still wasn’t very good. Very tough and chewy. It might be more edible if I cooked it for a day or so in the Sous Vide.  With some bacon fat. Or something. Whatever.

Let’s turn our attention to the Berkshire chop. Now we’re getting somewhere. This guys have a lot more fat, and therefore flavor and tenderness than the A&P and Whole Foods chops. Fortunately, when the pork industry went collectively nuts and leaned out their pigs, some folks had the sense to preserve some original breeds. Berkshire pigs are one example.

I order these from Fresh Direct, a local grocery delivery company (if you don’t live in New York or New Jersey, forget about it. They are strictly local). I sous-vided it 3 or 4 hours. Very tender and tasty, especially in the fattier sections. Did have small pockets of dryness in there tho.

And, surprise, surprise, here’s the winner, the woolly pig.

After Dr. Eades described his experience at at 3 day course on killing and carving up your own pig, I was inspired to see if I couldn’t find some of this stuff. And I did, at the New Amsterdam fresh market in lower Manhattan. That’s where I found this guy:

Here’s a link to a video of the same guy talking about the Mangalitsa pigs themselves. (Sorry, I don’t have time to figure out how to embed videos from Vimeo just yet…) If you’ve read this far, you’ll probably find it interesting.

Ok, so how did it taste? Well, for one, the Mangalitsa has a hell of a lot more fat on it. A LOT more fat. Holy crap that meat is fatty. But it’s fairly expensive and hard to find. The New Amsterdam market is closed for the winter, and the only other place in New York that I could find to buy this stuff is a place called DeBragga and Spitler, and they want to charge $99 for about 4 pounds of ribeye.

Anyway, because this guy has so much fat, I only sous-vided it for about an hour. It’s a pretty thick chop, as you can see.

Here’s a little video of what it looks like coming out of the sous-vide. Meat this fatty comes out with a very weird jello-like texture, I tried to capture that.

And here’s another video showing just how much fat came off of the chop when I seared it on my Breville indoor grill thingy.

When I cook about six pieces of very thick bacon, I don’t get that much fat. Ok, I do, but still. That’s a lot of fat.

How did it taste? Quite good, it had a surprising light and delicate flavor. But just like my experience with Wagyu beef, this is just too much fat. I left a lot of it on the plate. But unlike the Wagyu ribeye, I honestly enjoyed eating the meaty parts. Very tender and tasty.

My final verdict

The Mangalitsa is the clear winner here, however it’s expensive and hard to find. I’ll probably buy it once in awhile as an indulgence, but the Berkshire chops are gonna remain as my go-to choice when it comes to putting a pork chop on my plate.

Update!

Michael from Mosefund Farm (the guy in the pic and video link above) tells me that they are now selling Mangalitsa pork in Brooklyn at something called the Food Shed Market. It’s indoors and open year round, in Boerum Heights, Brooklyn. Close to one of my favorite watering holes, the venerable Brooklyn Inn. Stop in and tell Lauren the bartender I sent you!

Also, I forgot to mention that all of the chops pictured above were cooked at 130 degrees in the Sous-Vide Supreme, and then seared.

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