Did you experience that old - fashioned , Southern hogs were black or red , but never pink - skinned ovalbumin ?
snowy pigs sunburned in the sizzling , sticky climate of the South , so farmers did n’t need them . Southern hogs had to be strong and self - sufficient to survive .
Long after northerly hog , mostly descended from British breeds , were delegated to lay - back lives in the pigpen with troughs of slops and corn , southerly swine , descended from Spanish hogs , were still expected to “ root , grunter or die . ”
southerly farmers continued to earmark rugged , semi - wild swine , move around them out to steady down in the forest and then round them up again when butcher clock time draw near .
pig slaughtering was a clock time for solemnisation , when family ate clean pork barrel for perhaps the first time that twelvemonth . They cured the rest of the animal for after dining and nothing of a pig bed was wasted .
But yesterday ’s squealer did more than furnish ham actor and bacon ; heritage hogs were n’t multiply to simply give “ the other white substance . ”
menage rendered hog fatty tissue , and there was hatful of it , into lard — and lard was a staple fibre of life ; folks distribute their breads with tasty lard . Due to its in high spirits saturated - fat content , lard did n’t fume when used for frying and it lent its distinct , pleasant flavor to all manner of cooked intellectual nourishment .
Piecrusts and biscuits created with lard were off-the-wall and more toothsome than baked trade good made with butter . It was the cook ’s ripe ally !
Lard , lye and water were cooked together to make lye goop .
People used lye max to wash their faces and haircloth , and their floors and washing . They made lard - based healing cream by blending in roots and herbs , and used lard to domesticise unruly hair . How could folks exist without it ?
Besides that , fence - in grunter “ rototilled ” and fertilize the family garden plot of land during the winter months ; they rid the barn of pesky gnawer ; and even served on Hydra patrol . A tame sow or two tethered in the yard or give up to roam the homeplace kept the local rattlesnake and copperhead population under ascendence .
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High on the Mulefoot Hog
blood brother and sister team Jerry Painter and Susan Bates raise critically scupper Mulefoot hogs on their Water Hollow Farm in the Ozark Mountains near Drury , Mo.
“ We were reckon of raising pig again , ” she says , “ and were debating which ones to go with . We notice Mulefoot hogs on the Internet and , being Chickamauga Indians , we were fascinated by the fact these were the same Sus scrofa our ancestors ate 100 of year ago .
“ We liked the fact that these are ‘ productive hogs ’ and taste like sometime - time pork barrel . Meat producers spent the last 40 years taste to make pig penchant like chicken and be ‘ wellness solid food , ’ but real health food is natural — no hormones , antibiotic and pesticide added . Our hogs eat the highest - quality provender and imbibe pure Ozark leap water .
“ Their nub is a beefy red colour , it ’s tender and the flavor is out of this Earth . Our Mulefoot hogget bring a premium price when sold for meat . We have local customer and get many requests via the Internet from people who are interested in purchasing meat cuts , but we also sell breeding stock and have a wait list for our hogs . ”
The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy ( ALBC ) leaning critically endangered Mulefoot hogs on their Conservation Priority List .
The breed ’s precise bloodline is changeable ; however , the first Mulefoot hog registry was set up in 1908 , and by 1910 , there were 235 stock breeder registered in 22 states . Then , as the market for lard hogs dwindle , so did the register ’s roster of breeders , until in 1985 , only one herd remained : That of R. M. Holliday of Louisiana , Mo. , who , following in his father ’s and his gramps ’s footsteps , had bred pure Mulefoot hogg for nearly 40 years . Painter and Bates ’ pig are descended from the Holliday herd .
The Mulefoot ’s fused hoof resemble the hoof of mule and horses , hence the Mulefoot name .
They are soft - coated , black hogs ( a few are marked with white on their faces or foot ) with semi - flopping ears that prick forrard . Most librate 400 to 600 pounds by two years of age .
They are gentle , hardy , easy to fatten and gentle to raise , pull in them the quintessential “ raise on eatage ” pig . Although Mulefoot pork , like that of most southerly heritage hog , is fatty by New standards , much of the juicy melts in cooking and the excess can be drained away . Pork cognoscente agree : Mulefoot gist , peculiarly Mulefoot jambon , is a tasty treat not to be missed .
When asked what advice she ’d extend possible conservation breeder , Bates says , “ There is always room for more Mulefoot breeders , just verify to get registered stock . Lots of hoi polloi have ‘ mulefoots ’ they got from the state of nature or from sale barn , but since their descent is unknown , these are not considered inheritance hog . Real Mulefoots , ours included , are registered with the American Mulefoot Hog Association . possible stock breeder should know Mulefoots take longer to mature and have smaller bedding [ five to six piglets ] , but since they bring more per pound than split - hoof hogs , it works out in the ending . In our experience , they are gentle , easy - to - get - along - with hog that pretty much take care of themselves . They ’re real , old - sentence hogs and we enjoy lift them . ”
Mulefoots are only part of the picture : There arefive critically endangered southerly - inheritance breeds on the ALBC ’s Conservation Priority List . To be heel , the play along standard apply :
qualify American breeds all hail from the South ; they are theMulefoot , theRed Wattle , theGuinea Hog , theChoctawand theOssabaw Island Hog .
All but the Choctaw are also listed on Slow Food USA ’s Ark of Taste . The Ark of Taste seek to save an economic , societal and cultural heritage and to uphold and celebrate endangered taste .
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