Introducing the Mangalitsa
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The Mangalitsa (MON-ga-leet-sa) is a Hungarian breed of pig, first produced in 1833.*
Mangalitsa meat tastes better than all commonly available pigs - including the heritage breeds - because of its genes and how it is raised.
The Mangalitsa's genes give it very good marbling. Raising it properly ensures that it develops superior meat and fat.
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Because the Mangalitsa and American pigs have charted different courses for approximately 200 years, Mangalitsa meat (and fat) is very different from normal pork, as are the economics of raising the animals.
Wooly Pigs has imported a herd of Mangalitsa to the USA, and raises them as in Europe.
Our goal is to raise pigs that taste as good as those of the Austrians, the people who sold us the pigs and taught us about pig fattening. We are raising the Mangalitsa as they do, and working with them to maximize our meat quality.
The pigs are raised in a humane manner.
* In Hungarian, it sounds roughly the same, but is spelled mangalica.
More Marbling, Healthier Fat
Marbling is the key to superior flavor, because most flavor compounds are fat soluble, not water soluble. Without marbling, meat is dry, tough and flavorless. When cooked, the marbling bastes the meat around it.
Mangalitsa fat is more unsaturated than normal pig fat, so it tastes lighter and melts at a lower temperature. In addition to tasting much better, it is healthier and keeps longer, due to higher levels of oleic acid.
Mangalitsa meat has more than double the marbling of average pork. The substantially greater marbling, along with the special fat and extra flavor make it taste like a different sort of meat.
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The special qualities of Mangalitsa fat allow it to be whipped like cream. The fat can be air-cured and served in thin slices. Chefs like Manfred Stockner formerly of Zum Weissen Rauchfangkehrer like working with Mangalitsa fat, because they can do so much with it.
Why Does the Mangalitsa Taste Better than Normal "Heritage Breeds"?
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The Mangalitsa has better marbling and fat quality than most pigs because it is an "unimproved lard-type" breed, not a "meat-type" breed.
Since the end of World War II, the popular pig breeds, including the heritage breeds, have been bred leaner, faster maturing and more efficient. At the same time, animal husbandry has gone industrial, relying on confinement, drugs, hormones and unnatural feed. All that has worked against marbling, flavor and juiciness, to say nothing of animal welfare.
In contrast, the Mangalitsa is essentially an unchanged breed, directly related to Europe's original pigs. Also, the Mangalitsa of today is essentially the same as the Mangalitsa of the 19th century.
The changes in American heritage breeds can be seen by looking at photos of pigs from before World War II versus modern-day ones.
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In the last sixty years, all the popular American heritage breeds (including the Berkshire) have gone from tasting like Mangalitsa to something more like chicken. Because the change has happened slowly, and to all the popular breeds, almost nobody knows what pork used to taste like.
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It isn't possible to make popular heritage breeds taste like the Mangalitsa. Marbling and flavor are substantially controlled by genetics; even raising a pig in a forest or on pasture can't make it taste like its ancestors.
Unfortunately for consumers, it is nearly impossible to buy pork like Mangalitsa in the USA. This puts an extra burden on us: people can't really understand what Mangalitsa is until they taste it.
Wooly Pigs to the Rescue
In order to produce meat we want to eat, we've imported a herd, and have an experienced organic farmer raising them in a traditional and sustainable manner, the way the Austrians do.
Our goal is to produce meat as good or better than what we've eaten in Europe. To this end, we work with and learn from Europeans to bring their methods to America.
All the pigs receive a special diet designed to optimize their meat quality. As a result of the Mangalitsa genetics and how we raise them, the fat of our pigs is high in oleic acid and antioxidants, making it very suitable for curing.
Read here for more details on how we raise the animals, or here to buy.
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