Very Special Meat
 |
Mangalitsa tastes incredibly good. We can't communicate with words how it tastes, which is very frustrating. It doesn't taste at all like normal pork.
As a result of the pig being an unimproved lard-type, there's a lot more fat on the carcass, and a lot more highly marbled and flavorful meat. This is a bit like Wagyu beef.
As a result, in Europe, one finds chefs using almost all of the animal. Sometimes they use just small amounts of Mangalitsa to make otherwise boring dishes special. Similarly, salami or sausage makers use the fat to make their non-Mangalitsa products taste better.
For example, Zum Weissen Rauchfangkehrer and other restaurants serve a traditional soup made from the feet, while greaves (the leftover protein from rendering lard) are a basic element used in savory or sweet dishes. Similarly, meat scraps, wrapped in caul fat - called a crépinette in French, are a special treat. Normal pork isn't generally used that way.
At Christoph Wiesner's farmhouse, they served crépinettes one night, and meat scraps over rice another - both times the meat bits made the dish excellent.
Chefs repeatedly emphasized to us on our investigative trip that Mangalitsa is an entirely different meat. Chef Stockner (pictured) says that with enough skill and labor, it is possible to turn one excellent pig into $8,300 of revenue. The most profitable part of the pig is the fatback.
Special Fat
Mangalitsa fat tastes lighter and melts at a lower temperature than normal pig fat. It is juicy and soft, not heavy and greasy. This is due to the fat being higher in monounsaturated fat, at the expense of unhealthy saturated fat.
As a result, some Mangalitsa dishes include a lot of fat with the meat. This is strange for people used to normal pork, because normal pork fat is so unpalatable that people habitually avoid it.
 |
 |
Chefs like Manfred Stockner of Zum Weissen Rauchfangkehrer like Mangalitsa fat because they can do so much with it - he cures it and renders it. The lard can be whipped like cream. A small amount of such fat enhances otherwise ordinary dishes, or with suitable garnishes, is the dish.
Chef Stockner actually told us that the fat is the best part, because it is possible to do so much with it.
Next: Pig Breeds