Glossary: heritage pork

Though once considered unsuitable for mass production techniques, heritage pork breeds are now being raised in answer to consumer demand for higher-quality pork products. Farmers are now using artisanal methods to produce these traditional breeds in humane and healthy ways. The overall result is darker meat streaked with flavorful fat for which leading chefs are clamoring. Following are some of the better-known breeds of heritage pork. The Berkshire/Kurobuta breed can be traced back over 300 years. The Berkshire's positive traits were mentioned in historical notes made during the 17th-century stay of Oliver Cromwell's army in Berkshire. In 1823, the first Berkshire hogs were imported into the United States. In the nineteenth century, they were given as a gift to Japan and have since attained a status that rivals that of Japanese kobe beef. In Japan the Berkshire is known as Kurobuta, meaning 'black hog.'

From THE NEW FOOD LOVERS COMPANION, Fourth edition by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. Copyright © 2007, 2001, 1995, 1990 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc.