| FOOD BITES PORK & PIGS | Every few weeks, this page will feature some informational bites on food. If you'd like the community to know about a certain food, please email us to let us know. To read previous Food Bites, visit our archive | | Pork & Pigs 101 Pig, Sus scofa deomesticus, is the domesticated animal. The wild form of the spieces is wild boar. The domestication of pigs may have begun as early as that of sheep and goats, the 8th millennium BCE, in the same area; the bones of domesticated pigs are found at sites from 7000 BCE onwards in the fertile crescent of SW Asia. In prehistoric Europe, pigs flourished in the woodland environment. Similarly in China during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE), the pig had great status. Pigs continued to be important meat animals in W. Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. 
In one quote, it was stated that "Laberius of Egypt was the first to eat pig, whose flesh Galen preferred above all others...". Whether the Egyptian homeland of the first pork eater is true or not, it does suggest that the pig goes back to earliest Antiquity and that the Egyptians were the first to consume the pig's ancestor, the boar. Tanara refers to 50 ways suggested by Pliny and Plutarch of seasoning pork meat. The ancient Egyptians connected the pig with Seth, a particularly evil deity and it appears that for this reason some Egyptians refused to eat pork. In the guise of a pig or a boar, Seth attacked the eye of Horus, which represented the moon, a force of light and goodness. The attack itself represented a temporary triumph of evil over good. The connection between pigs and the moon occurred frequently in Egyptian myths and pigs were commonly sacrificed to moon gods. Seth attacked Horus and his eye during the waning moon, a time when ancient people thought evil forces roamed the earth. They also believed that people who led sinful lives on earth would be reincarnated as pigs. Because pigs mated during the waning moon, they too were considered evil. Whereas in parts of China and Oceania, the pig symbolized prosperity and abundance, in much of the rest of the world it symbolized gluttony and uncleanness. The Egyptians as well as other peoples of the African continent considered pigs unclean and unfit for consumption. The Hebrews continue to embrace this belief. People of early times possibly considered pigs unclean because they made the connection between pork and diseases, particularly diseases such as trichinosis, cholera and leprosy. The Greek philosopher Plutarch mentioned that those who drank the milk of pigs got leprosy. In Greek myth, King Teuthras killed a boar who professed to be the nurse of Artemis, and Artemis, in revenge, afflicted King Teuthras with the dreaded disease.
Despite the prejudice against pigs, and the fear that ancient people had of them, people as far back as Paleolithic times killed and ate wild pigs. By 7000 - 6000 BC, the pig had been domesticated. Pork was relished in classical times. There was a highly differentiated Greek vocabulary for denoting pigs of varying sizes and ages, and observes that sucking pigs were a delicacy. The same may well have applied in Rome; the Romans liked sucking pig. It was the Romans who perfected the art of pig breeding although pork was always the food of the elite. There were writings on the subjects of rearing pigs and consuming pork. Varro, the Roman scholar and writer on agriculture (1st century BCE) advised pig breeders about feeding. There was such a heavy demand for pork that some had to be imported from Gaul, where there was an abundance of wild pigs in the forests surrounding the many settlements.
Medieval English pork recipes included pies, brawn and little risoles. In the 17th and 18th centuries such recipes as are given for fresh pork imply sucking pigs or small pigs and give instructions for collaring and sousing, or baking in a highly spiced pie. The Germanic tribes were also very attached to pigs, so much so that warriors who fell in battle were posthumously awarded a pig. 
Scholars have suggested that people connected the pig with fertility as far back as Neolithic times. The pig grew fast and fat quickly, just as the grains of the earth sprouted and ripened. People in ancient Greece certainly recognized the connection between the pig and vegetation, for their pig slaughters played an important role in the autumn planting festival, the Thesmophoria. At the Thesmophoria, women killed suckling pigs, then ate the pork as a solemn sacrament. They mixed the flesh with corn seed that they then sowed into the earth. The Thesmophoria was a fertility rite, connected with the worship of Demeter, the earth goddess; and the use of the pig in such a rite indicated that like the earth goddess, the pig symbolized the fertile earth. The links people recognized between pork, grain, agriculture, fertility and resurrection were certainly not unique to the Greek world. Just as the ancient Greeks mixed pig flesh with corn seed before sowing, so the ancient Egyptians sowed their land by letting their pigs trample on the earth and press the seeds of grain down into it. Pigs are a primary food source for the people of the Pacific Islands today, and domestication of these animals involved rearing them in family homes and respecting them as contributors to society. Perhaps nowhere else do pigs play so important a sociological role as they do in the Oceanian lands. In this part of the world, pigs represent status, wealth and fertility; they are a favourite food of people as well as a favoured sacrifice to the gods. 
Breeds, Varieties & Cuts Pigs are prolific and easier to breed than other farm animals because they are docile and will feed on almost anything. ON pig farms in times past, they traditionally shared the same space as their breeders, either occupying the lower floor of dwellings or living in close proximity. Pigs are valued not only for their abundant flesh but also for almonst every other part of their bodies, including their abdominal fat (lard), ears, hair (bristles), legs, feet, entrais and tails, most of which are sold as fresh or prepared meat. There are various breeds of pigs, including the Duroc, the Danish Landrace, the Yorkshire, the Iberian, English Large White, Belgian Pietrain, Hampshire, as well as numerous crossbreeds which emerged in the 1970s. Over the past 3 decades, the demand for leaner meat has led to the development of breeds that are 30% to 50% less fatty. Pigs have been bred to be fat or meaty, heavy or light, according to changing requirements at different periods. Two hundred years ago, pigs were fat and heavy on sturdy legs. At the end of the 20th century, the trend is towards lean animals. In terms of cuts, pork cuts come from four main areas: loin, leg, shoulder and belly. Loin: The loin is divided into 3 sections: the rib end, centre cut and tenderloin end Leg: The leg can be merchanidsed whole or segmented into the 3 muscles - inside round, outside round, and sirloin tip. Each muscle has its own characteristics with the inside round being the most tender of the three cuts. The eye of the round portion is part of the outside round. Shoulder: The shoulder is divided into 2 sections, the butt and the picnic. The butt or blade portion is the most popular retain cut and the picnic is usually merchandised into economical roasts, chops/steaks or boned out for lean trim to make ground pork Belly: The belly is the section from which we get sideribs or spare ribs, side bacon as well as a variety of other processed pork products Copyright ©Foodie's Corner, All Rights Reserved. Last Updated: June 1, 2003 Backgrounds Courtesy of Eos Development | |
