Mangalitsa pork ✦

Porc mangalitza

What it is

Bred in Hungary in the 1830s for lard, the woolly Mangalitsa was down to a few dozen purebred sows by 1990 and was rebuilt by a geneticist who bought up what was left. A mature carcass is roughly two-thirds fat, and that fat is unusually unsaturated — it softens at hand temperature.

In the kitchen

Render the back fat gently at 100 °C for hours and keep the clear lard for pastry — it gives a shorter crust than butter. The lean wants curing or slow cooking; grilled hard, the soft fat runs straight out and takes the flavour with it.

Goes with

Paprika Caraway Apple Sauerkraut Black pepper Garlic Juniper berry Onion

Same species

Andouillette Boudin blanc Natural casings Caul fat Chorizo Ciauscolo

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