In a Nutshell
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- More marbling, flavor and juiciness
- Low feed demands
- Slowly gains muscle
- Grows slowly
- Inefficient conversion of food
- Lighter, less-saturated fat
- Much more fat in carcass
- Mature later, fewer offspring, adults are smaller size
- Extremely disease and stress resistant
- Less marbling, flavor and juiciness
- High feed demands
- Easily gains muscle
- Grows quickly
- Efficient conversion of food
- Heavier, more saturated fat
- Much less fat in carcass
- Mature quickly, bigger litters, bigger adult animals
- Less disease and stress resistant
Unimproved Breeds
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Unimproved breeds like the Mangalitsa are closely related to the European wild boar. They haven't been mixed with Asian pigs to improve reproductive efficiency. Nor have they been selected for leanness.
Unlike the modern meat-type breeds, the unimproved ones shown below are all lard-type. The lard-type breeds fatten easily and have very juicy, dark, marbled meat. These pigs get very fat when there is plentiful food.
The unimproved lard-type breeds are the best-tasting of their respective countries, due to their superior marbling and fat composition, and how they are raised.
In constrast to the Mangalitsa and similar pigs, all the popular heritage breeds are meat-type.
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The various unimproved breeds are similar to each other in taste and other important qualities, but they are each adapted to their respective environments:
- The Mangalitsa has wooly hair, which helps it to deal with the very cold Central European winter. It doesn't do well in hot weather.
- The Iberian and Alentejana are "hairless" because they live in a year-round mild climate.
Unimproved breeds were traditionally turned loose in forests to feed themselves, or penned and fed agricultural waste, or some combination of both. They come from a time when humans couldn't afford to give pigs plenty of food, clean water, vaccines, antibiotics, shelter, air conditioning, etc.
Wooly Pigs has selected the Mangalitsa for rasing in America because of all the unimproved lard-type breeds, it suits America's climate the best.
Improved Breeds
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All European pig breeds were unimproved until people started crossing Asian pigs with European breeds in the 18th century to produce the "improved" breeds.
For instance, the modern Berkshire breed was created by crossing unimproved British pigs with pigs from Asia (or their descendants).
As long as they have plentiful high-nutrient food, the modern improved breeds are more efficient than unimproved breeds. An improved pig reaches slaughter weight in less than half the time after eating roughly half the food of an unimproved pig.
A farmer raising modern improved breeds invests more in his pigs, but he gets it back much quicker. As a result of the economic efficiencies of the modern breeds, most farmers today, even sustainable ones, don't want to raise breeds like the Mangalitsa. It is essentially impossible for a farmer to acquire a genetically diverse herd of lard-type hogs in America. Wooly Pigs is America's only lard-type pork company.
Improved versus Unimproved
Raising
When a modern improved-breed pig can't eat enough high-nutrient food, or gets too cold, or gets too sunburned, or has to forage too hard for food, or has to drink salty water, it tends to get ill (and perhaps die). Not all of them are so frail - but in general, they need nicer conditions than unimproved pigs. This is especially true of today's pigs, most of whom have been bred for an indoor existence.
As previously mentioned, unimproved pigs are like wild boar, able to survive in difficult conditions. Some fatten entirely on forage. If they get too much food or if the pasture is too rich, they get very fat. In some parts of the world, unimproved pigs are just turned loose and allowed to eat whatever they can - humans don't take care of them.
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Hence, an unimproved pig like a Mangalitsa is ideal for someone who doesn't have a lot of grain or money, like a zoo or a small farmer, but who has access to pasture, forest or cheap hay. An improved pig is good for someone who has a lot of cheap grain, whey from a dairy or spent barley from a brewery - explaining the dominance of such breeds.
Taste
When it comes to taste, the experts we've talked to (farmers who raise Mangalitsa and other pigs) explain that improved pigs don't taste as good as the unimproved lard-type pigs, and that hybrids are somewhere in between.
They expressed this to us as, "quickly produced protein doesn't taste as good." For maximum flavor, they recommend purebred Mangalitsa, not a Mangalitsa crossed with an improved pig, nor a Mangalitsa of one type (e.g. red, blonde, swallow-bellied) crossed with a Mangalitsa of a different type.
The hybrids, like improved pigs, are more efficient at producing meat, so in Spain and Hungary, many high-quality yet mass-market products are made from crosses (75% lard-type) between unimproved and improved pigs. They cost less per pound than the purebred unimproved products.
Lard-type versus Meat-type
Before World War II, lard was extremely important, used for cooking, lubrication and making explosives. Vegetable oils, which are so common now, were expensive and went rancid quickly.
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Breeds suitable for producing lard were called "lard-type," because they fattened so easily. The Mangalitsa was especially well-suited for lard production, because of its metabolism. It could be raised to 79% fat by weight, the highest percentage ever measured.
The Mangalitsa was so specialized for lard production that when the market for lard changed after World War II, the breed went from being economical to uneconomical very quickly, and nearly died out.
America
Before World War II, America's most popular pigs were also lard-type, but they were improved, not unimproved. America had plentiful feed, so improved pigs were a better fit.
In response to the low prices for lard after World War II, farmers transformed the popular heritage breeds into "meat-type" breeds. Today's pigs are much leaner than their lard-type ancestors. They lack the marbling and the flavor - but in a market where lard is a waste product, they are more profitable.
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Somewhat confusingly, even though today's heritage breeds are very different from their lard-type ancestors, they are still called Berkshire, Duroc, Poland China, etc. This gives many consumers the misperception that "heritage pork" is somehow as marbled and flavorful as it once was - an impossibility given sixty years of selection for leanness and efficiency.
Based on our own comparisons and adventures in Europe we know that the lard-type breeds taste incomparably better.
The Future for Mangalitsa and Other Unimproved Lard-Type Pigs
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Europe's lard-type pigs shown above were in danger of disappearing with the switch to lean pigs after World War II. Now they have a chance of surviving due to the gourmet market.
In Spain and Hungary, such animals are raised and turned into expensive cured meat. The resulting products are incomparable with ones made from normal pork - so people pay enough of a premium that farmers can afford to raise the pigs.
Additionally, a gourmet "fresh meat" market has appeared. Fine restaurants and other finnicky customers like the Japanese buy the meat.
The fact that there is a robust market for these pigs in Europe and Japan convinced us that it was worth the expense to import and raise them in America.
Next: Our First Encounter With Mangalitsa
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