Food Detective: What to drink with pork

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For a recent anniversary, I gifted my wife with a Mulefoot hog. We named her Ermine, after my grandmother.

Ermine was raised at Rock Creek Mill and Heritage Farm in Argyle, Wis., by Mike and Valerie Rock. We visited Ermine several times, bringing her greens from our garden. Later, we ate her. She was delicious.

Forgotten breeds like the Mulefoot are celebrated at Cochon 555, an annual event where local chefs prepare pork to pair with beverages, usually wine.

Cochon 555 was held earler this month in the Blackstone Hotel. It's an excellent opportunity to sample how pigs taste when they're raised on small farms, free to romp, wallow at will and lead relatively normal piggy lives (which, of course, end badly, but at least they get some good times).

Cochon 555 features breeds that, for one reason or another, are not used in the corporate pork supply chain. Some of these heritage breeds, like the Mulefoot, face extinction and will disappear unless, ironically, more people get interested in eating them.

Cochon 555 focuses on five heritage breeds:

◆ Red Wattle pigs, descended from Russian boars, have red, richly marbled meat. One complaint I have with a lot of mass-produced pork is that it doesn't have enough fat, enough flavor. Red Wattle meat is full of luscious fat and good flavor.

◆ Berkshire pigs yield pork that is relatively lean but still tastier than their corporate brethren. When commercial breeds become too bland, Berkshire genes are introduced to add flavor.

◆ Hampshire pigs have finer marbling and shorter muscles, which translates into very tender meat.

◆ Ossabaw were originally Spanish pigs, and Spain produces some excellent pork. Fattier than many, the Ossabaw is a lushly rich pig.

◆ Swabian Hall pigs were bred by King Wilhelm of Germany, who mated the fattest known Russian pig with the leanest known Chinese pig for a good balance between fat and muscle.

"At Cochon 555, the pork tends to be very rich. I like to pair pork with a brighter wine," said Woody Hambrecht of California's Alysian Wines. Hambrecht recommended a 2008 Russian River Selection Pinot Noir. Pinot is a classic partner for pork.

Adam Campbell of Oregon's Elk Cove recommended a Riesling. "Elegant, clean white wines are ideal," he said, for their acidity that acts as a solvent to refresh the taste buds between bites.

My favorite pairing was Templeton Rye with bacon. The simplicity and softness of the drink proved an excellent palate-cleanser to the belly slices that so deliciously express the essence of the pig.

Walking out of Cochon 555, I ran into Mark Newman of Newman Farm, a Berkshire hog farmer from Myrtle, Mo. He, too, was drinking Templeton Rye.

"I'm just a country boy," he said, shuffling his feet. "I'm no wine connoisseur. I like whisky."

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/4371839-423/food-detective-what-to-drink-with-pork.html

This is easy, Hamm's Beer