putting, but pork fat (a.k.a. lard) has gotten an unfairly bad reputation in the last few decades. Unhydrogenated lard has half the saturated fat of palm or coconut oil, and contains 20 percent less saturated fat than butter.
Lard also has almost double the proportion of mono-unsaturated (a.k.a. good) fat that butter has: 45 percent for lard vs. 23 percent for butter. (See my 10/23/08 IT column, “Food’s Four-Letter Word,” for more information.) According to Putnam’s Web site, Mangalitsa fat is even more unsaturated that normal lard, has higher levels of oleic acid (the component that makes olive oil so healthful), and tastes much lighter and cleaner.
One of the first chefs to begin using Mangalitsa pork was Seattle’s legendary Herbfarm chef Keith Luce. Luce said in the April NYT article, “We were laughing when we tasted it. We couldn’t control ourselves. The taste, the texture, was so unbelievable.”
As word spread about Mangalitsas, top Chicago chefs and influential figures, such as Slow Food regional governor Joel Smith wanted some. This wasn’t surprising; many in the food world – and not just Chicagoans – think that Chicago currently has America’s most innovative, dynamic restaurant culture.
But Chicago’s culinary stars didn’t just want to buy Mangalitsa pork. They wanted to be able to get it from a local farmer. For Smith, Stan Schutte of Triple S Farms was the logical choice.
Schutte sells beef, chicken, pork (which comes from his Tamworth-Berkshire crosses), and produce in Springfield at the Wednesday Farmers’ Markets, at Food Fantasies, and through monthly deliveries in the off season. I buy almost all my meat from him. His success in direct marketing the products of his 200acre farm south of Mattoon is often pointed to as a model by local/sustainable food advocates across the nation. In 2006 Schutte was named Organic Farmer of the Year by both the Rodale Institute and the Midwest Organic Sustainable Education Service.
Schutte was enthusiastic about raising Mangalitsas. But I sensed he was also a bit nervous when he first told me about them last spring, shortly after buying six piglets. It wasn’t hard to understand why. Conventional feeder pigs (i.e. piglets) cost around $40 apiece; heritage pigs cost more, depending on the breed, but are still under $100. Putnam sells his Mangalitsas for $285. They not only grow more slowly than other breeds, their feed is three times the cost of the already expensive organic feed Schutte gives his Tamworth/ Berkshires. Schutte also planned to finish them with apples and acorns (which come from the Voss’s Pecan Farm), which traditionally produces exceptionally flavored meat. He calculated the price would be at least quadruple what he charges for his other pork. Would anyone pay that much?
Schutte needn’t have worried. There was virtually a bidding war for his woolies. The winning chefs were so enthusiastic, they made a predawn, three-hour trip to Schutte’s farm to inspect their prizes.
I was invited, but had a longstanding prior commitment and so couldn’t go. But Michael Higgins, chef/owner of Maldaner’s, was able to fill me in. That’s because he’s the only non-Chicago chef to get one of Schutte’s Mangalitsas.
Higgins has long been way ahead of the porcine curve. For years, he featured a braised pork shank. The accoutrements varied – in summer he might serve it with peaches; in winter, with sauerkraut. But the meat was always luscious. Higgins has also been Springfield’s leading chef proponent of local, seasonal ingredients.
Slow Food Springfield has joined forces with Higgins, and will be sponsoring a multiple-course Mangalitsa dinner Dec. 17. He’s told me some of his delicious-sounding menu ideas, but, like the Chicago chefs, is waiting until the pork arrives to finally formulate his menu. The dinner costs $50 per person – an incredible bargain; the Chicago dinners all cost at least $100. Whether or not Mangalitsa pork appears on Higgins’ regular menu depends on the size of the Slow Food dinner.
To make a reservation or for more information, contact Springfield Slow Food convivium leader Deanna Glosser at 217-629- 8949, [email protected] or by mail at 22 Hollyhock Drive, Riverton, 62561 Find out more about Schutte’s Triple S Farms and his monthly Springfield deliveries at his Web site, http://www.triplesfarms.com/.
You can find one of Higgins’ braised pork recipes online at IT’s website, www.illinoistimes.com.
Contact Julianne Glatz at [email protected].
