I had an incredible pork chop recently at a farm dinner. When I asked what kind of pig it was—because I now know how important that is—the host said it was a porcelet. Googling it only comes up with a French translation for pig. What is a porcelet? Also, can you please give us some pig guidance when it comes to the different terms like "suckling pig," "baby pig," "hog" vs. "pig," and so on? Also, what kind do you most prefer?
Steven Smith, Portland, Oregon
These are all good questions, Steven, and I'm happy to answer them as best I can, but I have to tell you that they really don't matter. The cut of pork matters more than the animal, and the way that cut is cooked matters more than either. The ethics of eating torture victims aside, a commodity end rib chop is always better than a heritage center cut loin chop. Unless, of course, it's raw. Or burned. That said, "porcelet" is a vague and pretentious word used to describe a pig that was slaughtered just prior to being weaned. Commercial pork producers, whose main concern is to keep the piggy pipeline running swift and true, even at the cost of unspeakable cruelty, wean the pigs as soon as seven weeks, but they are meant by nature to go for four months. This is actually the ideal time to eat the poor things, as they have not yet taken solid nutrients, but are no longer bland and formless ex-fetuses. I never eat baby pig; it creeps me out and the things are so lean and weak that you might as well be eating chicken. Only their heavenly skin, so crisp and delicate, makes them attractive to gourmands. Hogs are pigs of 120 pounds or more raised for market.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pr%2FQrqCrnV6YvK57xaimnWWUp7avt46fpqicX5aAcoCScGawoJGpeqq%2FjKmmq5uVobK1ew%3D%3D