Food
Pork fat: good for the belly
By JOHN MARIANI
Remember when George Herbert Walker Bush insisted that, as 41st president of the United States, he had every right to hate broccoli and that he was more of a pork rind kind of guy?
And when he was home in Houston one of his favorite places to eat was Otto's Barbecue for its shredded-pork sandwiches?
Seems "H.W." was ahead of the culinary curve. These days pork has become the most popular meat among young chefs who are finding innovative ways to serve what used to be relegated beneath beef, veal, and lamb on upscale menus.
Indeed, I don't think I've been to a single new restaurant this year that has not featured pork in one or more dishes, not least of all pork belly, which used to be exclusively found in Chinese restaurants.
One of the better reasons for pork's resurgence is a new interest in hogs fattened the way they used to be, before the National Pork Board began promoting its product as "the other white meat" in an attempt to convince Americans that pork was no longer as fatty as it once was.
There are at least two things wrong with that picture: First, pork turns white only if it's overcooked to the texture of shoe leather; second, the best pork should contain a good amount of fat because — duh! — fat carries the flavor.
Western cooks have known this all along, which is why barbecue depends on a good proportion of fat to lean in order to retain the meat's juiciness through the long smoking process.
American chefs across the country have now adapted that most sensible attitude, even refining certain barbecue techniques to give their recipes distinction. But without truly high-quality pork, it's a moot point.
Probably the biggest boost to raising great pigs came when, in 1995, Niman Ranch (known for its hormone-free, all-natural beef) hooked up with Paul Willis, owner of the Willis Free Range Pig Farm in Iowa, to market high-quality humanely raised hogs.
Their crossbred stock — which features Durok, Chester White, and Berkshire breeds — are full of sweet fat.
So, at Lulu Wilson in Aspen, a Berkshire pork chop is served with fennel butter sauce, mushrooms, cauliflower, and sweet grapes, while across town at The Little Nell resort's Ajax Tavern, braised, crispy pork belly comes with polenta, a frisée salad, and a poached egg.
At the Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, they use kurobuta — which turns out to be Japanese for black Berkshire pig — cut as a Wellington-style tenderloin with a Dijon-mustard wine sauce, spinach, and a duxelles of cremini mushrooms.
As for the rationale for not cooking pork past the color pink, Dr. Paul Sundberg of the National Pork Board notes: "The vast majority of today's pigs are fed on grain under highly controlled conditions, so the incidence of trichinosis is extremely rare, as it is for European swine," with only about 12 people a year contracting the parasite (and that is almost always from eating wild game, not pork).
And what about all that fat? According to a 2001 study by the Harvard School of Public Health, compared with butter, rendered pork fat contains nearly a quarter less saturated fat, more than double the monounsaturated fat, and nearly four times the polyunsaturated fat. Nor does it contain any unhealthy trans fats.
Furthermore, pork fat is low in omega-6s, and pigs that feed on greens and tubers rather than farm-fed grains produce meat and fat with higher levels of beneficial omega-3s.
Of course, the pit masters at the 'cues all over the West could have told you that pig fat does a body good.
According to the CDC, swine influenza viruses are not transmitted by food, so you cannot get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe. Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160 F kills the swine flu virus as it does other bacteria and viruses. For more information on the swine flu, visit www.cdc.gov.
Issue: July 2009
