It’s National Pork Month
On a recent sunny Saturday, Jeremy Dunphy greeted shoppers at the Downingtown Farmers Market. Behind him: an eye-catching sign showing a happy pig lounging in the grass.
“Our pigs are pastured,” described the co-owner of Pasture Song Farm. “Old-time farmers say, ‘You finally got smart. That’s the way we used to do it.’”
Dunphy and Clara Osborne raise mixed heritage-breed hogs in South Coventry.
“There is more fat on our pork. It has more flavor,” he said. “It’s the pork the way millennials’ grandparents ate.”
And the color may surprise you. “It’s red. It’s not white,” Dunphy added. “It’s not your parents’ other white meat.”
See for yourself. October’s National Pork Month.
“One of my hopes is people start showing pork just a little bit more respect,” said Brian Coble of Carnicopia Meats in Malvern. He and Alexi Alejandro offer locally sourced, pasture-raised, heritagebreed pork (and more) delivered to your doorstep.
“You can get the interesting cuts that you’d never see in stores,” he explained. “We really pride ourselves on custom butchering.”
Try a coppa steak, which “is basically the Delmonico of the pig,” or bone-in pork belly – “essentially pork short ribs.”
“There’s more to pork than just pork chops and bacon,” said Coble. “We’re excited to share that with customers.”
He also shared recipes like braised pork brisket.
Dining out? Savor the “vegetable-forward” pork Milanese at Main & Vine in Villanova.
“It’s very nostalgic because I grew up eating things like this,” recalled executive chef Charles Vogt. “At the same time, it’s different. We put our own little twist on it.”
The dish features cucumber and heirloom tomato salad, shaved Parmesan and 12-year aged balsamic. But the star, of course, is the meat itself – breaded and panfried in grapeseed oil.
“You want to start with that great, beautiful pork,” he said. “There’s a lot of great pork in the area.”
Bone-in Pork Belly
Ingredients
2 (3/4- to 1-pound) bone-in pork belly
2 1/2 tablespoons sweet paprika 2 teaspoons chili power 2 teaspoons dried mustard 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorn, ground
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes (optional for heat)
1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional for sweetness)