I was challenged a few days ago by a friend who bet me a Starbuck’s Latté I couldn’t produce the ‘right’ answer to a seemingly easy question: “What is the most-neglected, most under-appreciated Protein product on the average COVID-19 lock down menu?”. I got three tries and blew ’em all…
Centre-Cut Loin Pork Chops: Marinating in Garlic and Herbs…
Have you come up with a viable answer to that vexing question? You’re going to hate yourself for missing it, just like I did.
Right there, on page 1 of the flyer…
The answer is right there almost every week on the front page or one or more supermarket flyers, above the fold. Yet the vast majority of folks fail to give the ‘right’ answer to my friend’s question.
Okay. I’ll put you out of your misery: Pork!
But how on earth, I hear you wondering, did I miss that? I think there are lots of reasons, really. The Pork Producers are one of a very few mainstream food lobby groups that haven’t been putting out a load of ads hyping a lot of recipe suggestions about their product. (Is it because they haven’t had to? I mean, have a lot of silent-majority chefs and diners just gone ahead and kept serving Pork as usual during the continued (and extended) lock downs, and kept the ‘secret’ to themselves?
A cost-per-serving winner
There’s no clear answer. But the official statistics say that retail Pork prices dropped consistently on average, since 2015, from a high of (C)$13.26 per Kg in October, 2015, to a low of just over $11.50 per Kg in March of last year. One reason apparently was constant increases in production in the absence of similar, offsetting increases in demand. Canada is a global exporter of Pork, is the U.S, and exports have been down during the COVID-19 Era. But even more significant has been the consistent decline in consumption since the 1980s.
“Despite increasing pork production in Canada, consumption is declining. In 2019, it was forecast that per capita consumption would reach around 22.3 kilograms, a decrease in over 10 kilograms since the 1980s.”
So… Especially in the face of cost increases for Beef during the 2000s and 20-teens, Pork has not roared ahead to take up the slack. Why?
Myths and legends: Pork’s ‘identity albatross’
There remain a lot of myths and legends about Pork that seem to have ‘kept it down’, in recent years when science has cleared it of many health ‘charges’.
Myth: Pork is ‘unclean’. That’s one of the oldest untruths about Pork. Some folks used to consider Pork inherently unsafe because of the persisting belief that it carries diseases, notably Trichinosis, a parasitic (round worm) affliction mainly caused by eating under-cooked Pork. These days, Trichinosis has been all but wiped out thanks to improved hog-raising practices. In fact, fewer than two dozen cases per year have been reported to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control in the past couple of decades.
Truth: These days, Trichinosis has been all but wiped out thanks to improved hog-raising practices. In fact, fewer than two dozen cases per year have been reported to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control in the past couple of decades.
Legend: Pork must be inherently ‘evil’. After all, many religious belief communities of near-eastern origin have always banned consumption of Pork and related products. It’s not just tradition, but a matter of religious Law.
Truth: These religions also have other religious and cultural rules and ‘Laws’ that require special handling or or seasonal bans on various foods to ensure that their adherents remain ‘clean’ of body, mind and soul. I, for one, believe that the Pork prohibitions among these Religous groups stem from the ancient (and originally justified) issue of Trichinosis.
Legend: Pigs eat garbage. Hah! They’ll eat a lot of things, but not putrid, rotting garbage – just stuff Humans and other animals don’t want to, or refuse to eat. As proof, some Pork nay-sayers point to the fact that hogs love sweet and fermented stuff.
Truth: Swine are sensitive. Modern-day commercial hogs require well-cooked feed (still referred to by some old-school hog farmers as ‘slops’) to ensure their health and the wholesomeness of their meat. They also routinely receive protective drugs and anti-biotics throughout their lives to keep common hog ailments out their herds. On the other hand, all the meds have turned off some younger folks who want their food without hormones, antibiotic or other chemical ‘adulteration’. And they may be neglecting Pork simply because there remains no safe way to raise Pork without a certain amount of medical intervention.
Cooking and Serving Myths and Legends
Legend: Pork is tough. It’s all in the way you cook it. I’ll show you some Chef Secrets…
Legend: Pork is Dry. Nonsense. I have some additional Chef Secrets that cover that…
Legend: Pork is excessively fatty. Ridiculous!
Legend: Pork is bland. Utter nonsense! Ditto the Chef Secrets…
Check in right here tomorrow…
… For all my Pork-related Chef Secrets!
And I’ll suggest some recipes that make the most of Pork’s inherent versatility…
~ Maggie J.