Calling all pig lovers

In light of the recent Swine Flu or H1N1 as the pig farmers would prefer it be called I have been considering the plight of the pig. I feel like over the years these little oinkers have really gotten the shaft. Consider the slogan "Pork, the other white meat." Who wants to be the "other one" of anything. Not me and definitely not Wilbur. In George Orwell's 1945 classic Animal Farm pigs were the fat lazy communists who became worse than the farmers who the animals overthrew. More recently, in Art Spiegelman's Maus, the swine were the communist Germans. All of this just makes me wonder, where is the pig skin, bacon fat, pork roast love?

Before all of the recent Swine histeria I was given a press pass to attend Cochon 555 in Boston. It was a beautiful event with the intent of celebrating Heritage pigs (the curly tailed version of free range chicken and grass fed cow). 5 of the top chefs in Boston had the task of each preparing one of these Heritage pigs and serving them to the 300 some guests. In the front of the room was a giant bowl of flavored lard with slices of toasted bread sitting next to it. I was intranced by this pile of fatty goodness and when I actually tried it my mouth would never be the same again.

Lard has to be one of the most unappreciated of pork products. All a person has to do is see lard in a recipe and they instantly start scouring websites and cookbooks to see if it is safe to replace the lard with butter, shortening or something even more vile like margarine. Like all pork products lard has a special place in the food world.

Lard will create the most ideal pie crust. It will be flaky and buttery. The crust will literally melt in your mouth. The only downside some people see to using this is that there is a slightly meaty flavor to lard, so it might not be ideal for your fresh summer strawberry pie. It needs strong flavors to offset the possible meaty undertones. Personally after my Cochon experience I feel like replacing all of the butter in the fridge with garlic infused lard would make me as happy as a pig in fresh mud.

The CDC has informed us that H1N1 is now no worse than the regular flu and it was never passed to people by eating pork. So go out and buy some lard and make some pies, or make my boyfriend's favorite breakfast of bacon and eggs cooked in the bacon fat.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily