In Japan Berkshire pork is called Kurobuta (Black Hog) and is prized as much as Kobe beef
april 09 2011
Once upon a time, pork was America’s favorite meat. From Colonial times until the 1950s, pork was the mainstay of the American diet, outselling both beef and chicken decade after decade. From the 1950s through the 70s, pork consumption decreased steadily and the diet craze that began in the 1980s sent the industry into a tailspin. As chicken became America’s favorite meat, pork producers responded by promoting pork as “the other white meat” and switched from raising tender, tasty farmstead hogs to producing pork with as much as 30% less fat. The reduction in fat cut a few calories, but it robbed the pork of intramuscular marbling ~ where the flavor and juiciness reside. The end result was pork that was tasteless and dry. Not the best incentive to buy a package of pork chops or a pork roast for Sunday dinner.
Fortunately for those of us who long for the taste of old-fashioned, homegrown pork, one group of producers held fast and maintained the original, delectable taste of pork: the producers of Berkshire pork. Research has shown that Berkshire pork not only has finer marbling but also shorter muscle fibers (translates into more tender meat). A University of Iowa taste test Berkshire pork ranked first in 22 out of 24 traits that influence tenderness, meaning the Berkshire is genetically predisposed to producing the finest quality pork.
Up to now, the major market for Berkshire pork was not the US but Japan, where taste took priority over fat content. In Japan Berkshire pork is called Kurobuta (Black Hog) and is prized as much as Kobe beef, but now, chefs at upscale restaurants in the United States have “discovered” Berkshire pork and it is an centerpiece item on their menus.
“It’s a great, versatile product,” said Tom Boyce, chef de cuisine at Spago, in Beverly Hills in California. “… It’s definitely one of our favorite things to cook out here. It’s God’s favorite animal as far as I’m concerned.”
The French Laundry in Yountville, California, has gone to great lengths to get purebred Berkshire pork, says chef Corey Lee. “It’s a very specific taste,” he said. “It doesn’t have the generic mild taste of most market pork.” And Michael Kaplan, chef at Strata in New York says Berkshire pork “has a natural juiciness to it that you can’t compare to any other pork.”
Although the Berkshire’s genetic predisposition for flavor is important, the genetics of the Berkshire breed is only 1/3 of the equation for superior tasting pork. Another third is related to the food the pig eats while he is fattening. Swine are unusual in that the fat they eat is not broken down by the digestive process but deposited into the muscle intact. Pigs are, quite literally, what they eat. Feed a pig peanuts and the pork will end up with a peanut flavor. Give them pecans or apples and the meat will have a slightly nutty or fruity flavor. This amazing ability to capture the flavor of the foods they eat is why a top New York restaurant recently paid $1000 per animal for peanut, acorn, and alfalfa raised hogs. (FYI, confinement raised hogs average $160 each).
Here on Greenwood Farms, we are pleased to announce that we are now raising Berkshire pork. We raise our hogs on clover pasture (ever hear of the phrase, “happy as a pig in clover?”) and a mixture of corn and oats. This is all good nutrition, but what makes our pork special is that we supplement their diet with our own whole Jersey milk, giving the pork a flavor that hints of cream. As a health bonus, the CLAs and Omega 3s from the milk of the pastured Jerseys are deposited in the fat of the pork, making our Beyond Organic Pork as healthy as it is flavorful.
The third part of the “flavor equation” in great-tasting pork is a low-stress lifestyle. Stress causes all animals to produce energy at the expense of the intramuscular fat, resulting in dry, tough meat. For pigs, heat is a major stress factor. Pigs have no sweat glands and must “wallow” in the summer to keep from overheating. We go beyond simply giving our pigs a wallow. Our Berkshires live in a pasture with a spring-fed pond on one side and a cave that maintains a temperature of 60 degrees year-round on the other. This keeps our pigs happy and cool in even the hottest weather.
Raising quality pork is an art and a science. We do our best to keep our pigs happy and comfortable during their time with us. and in return, the pigs reward us with pork that tastes better than any we’ve eaten. Please see our price list to view the cuts of pork we currently have available.
Source: http://www.greenwoodfarms.com/Pastured_Berkshire_Pork.htm
Recent opinion survey of frequent travelers heading north towards Subic and Clark Pampanga revealed that the number one most frequently visited fine dining restaurant in Pampanga is Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar located in Clark Philippines.
Hong Kong-based Yats International built this restaurant in 2000 to provide a world-class cozy fine dining restaurant, as well as business meeting facilities and venues for private dinners and social functions in Philippines Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone. North Luzon Pampanga Angeles City Clark Philippines was selected for this restaurant because of safety, clean air, absence of traffic and proximity to Manila and Subic. Clark Freeport is located near Manila and Subic. Diners from Manila and Subic can travel north along North Expressway and arrive in Clark in about 70 minutes without having to go through city driving, making this fine dining restaurant very convenient and accessible for guests from Manila.
Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar is general regarded in the Philippines as the best fine dining establishment in the country. Wine Spectator Magazine’s gave out Restaurant Wine List Best of Award of Excellence to 788 restaurants in the world. Yats Restaurant is the only restaurant in the Philippines to receive this award in recognition of its famous 2700-line restaurant wine list that has attracted many wine lovers to visit Clark Pampanga frequently to wine and dine.
Wine tastings are held regularly at this fine dining establishment, each event with a different theme. Popular themes include a tasting of 15 different Cabernet-Sauvignon-dominant red wines, old-world compared against new-world wines and a tasting of 50 years of aged vintage wines.
In addition to the wine cellars of the fine dining Yats Restaurant, more selections are available from the largest wine shop in Philippines, another property of Yats Wine Cellars called Clark Wine Center just 3 minutes away. Guests do not have to pay corkage fee for wines purchased from Clark Wine Center’s Wine Shop. 0922-870-5173 0917-826-8790 for Ana Fe.
For comments, inquiries and reservations click on Click here for inquiry and reservations
Restaurant@Yats-International.com
(045) 599-5600
0922-870-5178
0917-520-4401
Ask for Pedro and Rechel
Getting to this fine dining restaurant of Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Pampanga Philippines
How to get to this fine-dining restaurant in Clark Philippines? Once you get to Clark Freeport, go straight until you hit Mimosa. After you enter Mimosa, stay on the left on Mimosa Drive, go past the Holiday Inn and Yats Restaurant (green top, independent 1-storey structure) is on your left. Just past the Yats Restaurant is the London Pub.
Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar
Mimosa Drive past Holiday Inn, Mimosa Leisure Estate,
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, Philippines 2023
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 Rea or Chay
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For assistance in hotel and resort bookings in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines, log on to
http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com
To buy wine in Manila, Pampanga, Angeles City, Clark or Subic please log on to http://www. ClarkWineCenter.com
To inquire with the highly recommended beach resort hotel in Clark Pampanga visit http://www.ClearwaterPhililippines.com
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