So the first 3/4 Mangalitsa has arrived back at the Inn. We will finally be able to serve some of the delicious pork in the restaurant. Due to legalities, after it was slaughtered, the pig had to be fully cooled at the Island Growers Meat Coop in Bow, they don't let us take it off the mobile unit unless it has cooled to 41 degrees, this is a new rule, or at least newly enforced. So we had to go off island to pick it up.

We are rendering lard, cooking the head for a terrine, making lardo, making guancale, curing bacon and sous vide bellies. Hang weight was 219#, a bit small, but the quality and flavor is really amazing. The fat is clean and pure white.

Mangalitsa will be on the menu as early as tomorrow and will certainly be a course for Thanksgiving.

Three (Not So Little) Pigs

Today we placed a small horse trailer inside the pigs yard and filled it with hay to have them get used to walking in and out. They were all over it quite quickly. They went right up the ramp and in. Hopefully this will be a stress free transport to the mobile slaughter unit, which will be only a few miles away. The pigs were very curious, chewing on the metal trailer, the tires and scratching themselves on whatever they could.

Black Oregon truffles and Black Dog Farm duck eggs. For tonight, hand cut pappardelle with leeks, shaved black truffle, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and last but not least, a poached duck egg. Pretty much a no brainer.

A quick bike ride to a secret location and return to work with some of Orcas Island's finest. #1 perfect Matsutake Mushrooms, smelling of the forest.

Piggy

Summer has come and gone on Orcas, we are well into the fall and it really feels like winter. Almost all of the apples and pears have been picked, dried, stored, made into syrup, butter, etc...

Here is a picture of cured pork belly from 1/2 Berkshire & 1/2 Mangalitsa pig. We will smoke some and keep some for fresh bacon. The flavor is great and the fat has a noticeable lightness. At the thickest point, the belly is almost four inches thick.

This coming week, we are having one of the 3/4 Mangalitsas slaughtered, so we will be able to compare the two. As in all of Wolly Pigs pictures, the fat is truely amazing and the flavor is exceptional.