Large Black Heritage Pig Breed
Eating them to Preserve them!
Recently, chefs have discovered the rich and complex flavour of heritage pork and the older breeds are making an amazing comeback. First to be adopted by fine restaurants was the Berkshire, and more recently the Tamworth and Large Blacks. These breeds do not meet the commercial criteria for quick growth under intensive management; however, their slow growth and adaptability to pasture management make them easy keepers that produce a lean and luscious product. A week ago, I had my first Large Black pork butt roast from End Of The Road Ranch, on Vancouver Island. The meat was tender, the taste was exceptionally very good, and I did not bother with the sauce. If you are a foodie, you’ve got to bring the Large Black pork experience to your dinner table.
Endangered Swine Registrations Decline
The future of heritage breed pigs is reliant upon farmers who can afford to raise them. However, they need our help.
Originating from Chinese breeds brought to England, the Large Black is a critically rare breed known for its taste, pasture foraging skills and overall hardiness. At first blush, the idea of eating an endangered breed of pig – or any other endangered livestock animal – seems counter intuitive. But the reason that they’ve fallen into this state is in fact because the average person has stopped eating the products from the farms that produce them. Consider that these are not wild animals, they are animals raised by farmers at considerable time and expense. In order to keep a breed healthy you need a diverse breeding pool, and for that plenty of farmers committed to raising the animals. Without sufficient public interest and successful business through pork sales, very few farmers have the resources to breed for conservation as a hobby. The reason so few pigs are registered is because very few people are buying them for breeding stock, not because the farmers can’t produce and register them. If more farms saw producing and selling pork from the endangered breeds as a business opportunity, more animals would be registered as breeding stock and eventually they would no longer be endangered. In order to maintain a breed… read more.
The local farmers, call on you to fight with knife and fork for breed conservation! To order click on Artisan Pork page.
–End Of The Road Ranch– located in Qualicum, Vancouver Island.
Bon Appetit!
