Heritage Tastings Bring New Life to Ancient Breeds

Don Schrider and Sandy Lerner

On January 26, 2009, My friend Vija and I attended, along with over 90 food professionals, chefs, food writers, and food connoisseurs the Pork Pageant, a heritage pork tasting event, at Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, VA. We participated in a blind-tasting which compared pork from eight rare heritage breeds and one commercially available product.  Executive Chef Rob Townsend merely slow roasted the pork with no added seasonings.  He also prepared for us a wonderful buffet lunch which everyone eagerly dove into after the pork tasting. Vija and I started a gourmet club together years ago, and it was great attending this event with a fellow foodie!  Vija told me later that she felt very at home at the event, she enthused, “those were my kind of people!”

Each of these breeds has evolved to fit a certain region and farming system – some tending to produce copious amounts fat, others being naturally lean. For instance, the Tamworth is a lean grazing pig shaped to produce bacon, while the Ossabaw Island is a feral breed that stores large amounts of fat in the fall to survive the winter.

Because of the link of breed with production system/region, participating farmers each raised their breed in the manner best suited to producing a premium product. In this way tasting participants were exposed to a potpourri of flavors exemplary of these breeds as they should be raised.

After tasting, we were asked to vote for our number one favorite before the breeds were revealed. Two breeds tied for my first place, the Mulefoot and the Guinea Hog, the Gloucestershire Old Spots and Ossabaw Island tied for second. I actually can’t wait to locate a farmer who sells pork from any of these breeds. They were the best pork I have ever tasted!

“The important lesson from the voting,” said Sandy Lerner of Ayrshire Farm, host of the tasting, “is that everyone in the room liked a different taste – and that the samples tasted different.”

The placements were as follows:

First place with 22 votes: the Mulefoot

Second place with 17 votes: the Gloucestershire Old Spots

Third Place with 16 votes: the Red Wattle

Tied for Fourth place with 7 votes each: the Tamworth and the Guinea Hog

Fifth place with 5 votes: the Hereford

Tied for Sixth place with 4 votes each: the Ossabaw Island and the commercial pork

Seventh Place with 1 vote: the Large Black

This event was the largest comparison of pork breeds in North America to date and it successfully demonstrated that each of these breeds is valuable for the unique culinary experience it offers. To quote one attendee, Sandy Danielson of Farmer’s Delight Plantation, “These tastings have certainly opened our eyes about heritage vs. commercial breeds of livestock.  Raising the heritage is certainly the route to go.  It is a “win win” situation for all.”

The Pig Pageant – An Historical Event was produced through a partnership of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Humane Farm Animal Care, Slow Food USA, and Ayrshire Farm.

Photo of a Tamworth Hog

Ayrshire Farms gave a special thanks to the farmers who supplied the pork for the tasting:

Tamworth – Cove Branch Farm, Charles and Marilyn Barnes, New Castle, VA

Red Wattle – Sloans Creek Farm, Nathan and Ellen Melson, Dodd City, TX

Ossabaw Island – Marle Hill Farm, Byron and Ruth Childress, Manquin, VA

Mulefoot – Maveric Heritage Ranch Company, LLC, Arie McFarlen and Bret Kortie, Dell Rapids, SD

Large Black – Cabbage Hill Farm, Nancy and Jerry Kohlberg, Mount Kisco, NY

Hereford – Whitmore Farm, Will Morrow, Emmitsburg, MD

Guinea Hog – Maveric Heritage Ranch Company, LLC, Arie McFarlen and Bret Kortie, Dell Rapids, SD

Gloucestershire Old Spots – Ayrshire Farm, Upperville, VA

Ayrshire Farm host tasting events of turkey, lamb, beef and pork throughout the year.  What Sandy Lerner is doing with these Heritage Breed tastings is very significant. She is bringing together consumers, farmers, and culinary professionals at one event, and demonstrating the diversity and delectability of threatened breeds. Through this educational tasting series, she is singlehandedly reversing the downward slide to extinction that some of these ancient breeds face.  This is an excellent idea, that can be duplicated around the country, and I would encourage other large farms to consider this approach to re-introducing diversity into our food supply.

Because of Sandy Lerner’s pioneering work to rebuild our heritage breeding stock, I consider her a Hero of Sustainable Agriculture.

For more information on the beef breeds, placings, hosting organizations, or pig facts, visit: http://www.ayrshirefarm.com/tasting/beef/

Chef Rob Townsend and Don Schrider In Ayrshire Farms Kitchen