Mangalitsa is a breed of pig that is valued for its silky lard as well for its rich meat. This swine has origins from Hungary and its creation is credited to the royal Archduke Jozsef in 1833. Well Ms. Goofy and I are hungry to try a shoulder roast of this fancy pedigree swine. These hogs can get as large as 500 pounds. They are fed a rich diet of hay, alfalfa, barley and wheat for at least 18 months. This is three times longer than your average market pig. This will help produce a richer and deeper flavor of the meat. We had to special order this shoulder roast from Corti Brothers market. Our roast weighed out and ‘a click’ over eight pounds and set us back ten dollars a pound. Did you notice the fat cap on this roast? It was huge and beautiful.
The fat cap was trimmed and saved for future sausage production. This roast was cooked in a slow oven at 300 degrees. We only used salt and pepper to season this roast. We wanted to experience the taste of this meat without any flavor distractions. The roast was seared on all sides in a large skillet and then placed in a racked roasting pan. The roast was covered in foil and placed in the oven. Did the house ever smell so good? Ms. Goofy was drooling just as much as I. When the roast hit 189 degrees it was removed from the oven and left to rest for 20 minutes. It was a long, long, twenty minutes. Some gravy was made with the drippings in the roast pan.
This was one special taste treat. I have never experienced such a pork flavor. The meat was very rich with a intense, pleasing pork flavor. If my eyes were closed, I might even say it tastes of a mild beef. The meat was a little darker than the usual pork we purchase. The flavor was accented with a buttery pork fat that made us swoon. The gravy made from these drippings was some of the best gravy that might have ever been made. I took a cup of gravy and just sipped it with a straw. Mangalitsa pork, where have you been all my life? This was a special treat that has opened our taste buds to a new pork horizon.
Wow, I'm drooling and I can't even smell the roast! Sounds like a very special treat.
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, if I can find it here you know I'll be buying it. That last photo had my mouth watering.
ReplyDeleteZoomie, This roast was cooked in the oven. Luckily it was not as hot as today. Pork rules in my book. We would like to do this again.
ReplyDeletehighlandsranchfoodie, Thanks, We had to special order it ourselves. Hopefully it will catch on and the price will go down.
What does one say about something like that? I'll just bow.
ReplyDeleteChris, Thanks, Thankyou very much. Coming from you means a lot. Some day we are gong to fire up the Green Egg and our multiple WSM and have a cookoff. Ms. Goofy's WSM should arrive Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteMangalitsa! Awesome.
ReplyDeleteIsn't Corti Brothers just the funniest place?
cookiecrumb, Actually I have never been to Corti Brothers. This was Ms. Goofy's flagship project. She works near by and from what I have read they sell a lot of high end food products. It actually sounds like a Marin type of store. In conclusion it was some very tasty pork. I am going to make some won-ton wrapped appetizers with the final leftovers. I still have some fat for later. Lard rules.
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