Pork

Many think that pork is the most savory of all flesh foods. The abundance and quality of fat keeps the meat from tasting dry and imparts a characteristically rich flavor. High pork consumption patterns are found in both China and Europe. In China, it is more important than all other meats combined, and use is made of all parts of the pig, including its liver, kidneys, feet, knuckles, tongue, skin, tail, and blood (Anderson 1988; Simoons 1991). Most pork cuts are also fried in lard.

In Europe, more than in China, cured pork products are favored. Germans and Slavs enjoy a range of sausages such as pork brain sausage (Gehirnwurst), much appreciated in Germany but unavailable commercially in the United States. In addition, Russians and Poles are especially fond of suckling pig.

Spaniards also enjoy high pork consumption and have a special fondness for cured hams and suckling pigs. Cochonillo asado, a strongly traditional Castilian meal, features a 1-month-old piglet fed only on its mother’s milk and roasted in an earthenware dish. Spanish enthusiasm for pig meat stems in part from pork’s past importance as a symbol of cultural identity. Because Moors and Jews did not eat it, Christians saw the meat as more than simple nutrition. In sixteenth-century Spain, pork eating was an acid test faced by Spanish Moriscos and Marranos who publicly claimed conversion to Christianity. Conspicuous pork avoidance could result in an appearance before the tribunals of the Inquisition.

In North. America, pork lost its preeminent position to beef in the early twentieth century. Aside from the fact that cattle ranchers were much better organized to promote their product, pork had acquired negative connotations as the main food in the monotonous diet of poor people and pioneers. At one time, pork also had unhealthy associations because of the potential for human infection by the organism Trichinella spiralis, carried by pigs, but federal meat inspection to certify trichina-free meat has greatly reduced the incidence of trichinosis. Still, wide knowledge of that old health risk continues to motivate cooks to make sure that pork is served only when fully cooked. Pork is considered done when it reaches an average interior temperature of 75.9°C (170° F).

Spareribs are often used in southern-style barbecue, and bacon, which comes from what the meat trade calls “pork bellies,” continues as an important component of the traditional American breakfast. “Chitterlings,” made from intestines, are eaten as part of the ethnic cuisine known as “soul food,” but they appear in few other cases. In contrast, ham, mostly cured, has wide appeal. Virginia hams, especially those from Smithfield, have had the best reputation among connoisseurs. Fattened on peanuts and corn, Virginia porkers yield a ham that is smoked and then matured for a year.