Pork

The most widely eaten meat in the world, and the one whose preservation traditions — ham, bacon, sausage, lard — matter as much as the fresh meat.

Where it comes from

Pigs were domesticated from wild boar independently in Anatolia and in China. They eat almost anything, breed fast and convert feed efficiently, which made them the household animal of settled farming across Europe and East Asia.

Pork is absent from Jewish and Muslim cooking, which is not incidental to world food: whole regional cuisines are built on lamb, beef and poultry instead, and on different fats.

Varieties

• Loin and fillet — Very lean, and the cuts most often overcooked. Minutes, not hours.
• Shoulder / butt — Marbled and full of connective tissue. The cut for slow roasting, pulled pork, and most sausage.
• Belly — Alternating fat and lean. Roasted for crackling, braised, cured into pancetta or streaky bacon.
• Leg — The ham cut, cured wet or dry. Prosciutto, jamón, country ham.
• Trotters, ears, head — Almost pure collagen and skin. Brawn, terrines, and the body of a good stock.
• Lard and back fat — Rendered fat with a high smoke point and a clean flavour; lardo is back fat cured whole.

In the kitchen

Modern pork is bred lean and dries out quickly. The old advice to cook it to grey is obsolete and was about a parasite that has effectively gone from commercial herds; a faint blush in a loin chop is correct, not risky.

Crackling needs three things: dry skin, salt, and a burst of high heat. Scoring helps the fat render; moisture is what stops it working.

Pork is tagged on 534 dishes from 112 countries in the atlas. These notes are written from general knowledge and carry no per-fact citation — see About.