Each of the five cooks in tomorrow night’s Cochon 555 competition (tickets are, apparently, still available) was given a different heritage-breed hog — the porcine equivalent of an heirloom vegetable. Lincoln Cafe‘s Matt Steigerwald, who is cooking a menu including headcheese and mortadella, reports he was given one of the rarest breeds still in existence: a mulefoot hog. Only some 200 to 300 purebred mulefoots exist.
So why eat it? Well the best way to save rare breeds of edible animals maybe to create a market for them so that farmers can make a buck if they switch away from the hybrids and crossbreeds that are long and lean (like those found in confinement operations) to the fatty, hardy breeds that do well outdoors. And taste so much better.
As the linked page says “The Mulefoot is an American hog breed that is named for its most distinctive feature, the solid, non-cloven hoof which looks like the hoof of a mule.”
This is obviously the pig to teach to chew cud, and thus creating the Kosher pig. If you can make a kosher pig, you guarantee it’s survival.
I knew the possibility of a kosher pig would appeal to you, Sam. We should see if we can get a ruling from a rabbi. After all, G-D must have created this chromosomal mutation for a reason.
Nick-
I have not commented before, but I love your blog. We have a mutual friend (Jim Duncan) who introduced me initially to your blog. I love it!
I will also be judging at Cochon tomorrow; I look forward to talking with you.
Ben Gordon