Any part of the darling pig Is perfectly fine with me. As steak houses continue to flourish in cities across the country, I often wonder what it is about beef that has so captured the tastebuds of America's carnivores. But so too is lamb, goat, and my personal favorite, pork. After all, pigs have always played integral roles on farms across the country. No other animal offers a greater return on meat per calories consumed than the pig.
Pigs get fatter faster that either cows, goats, or sheep, and they bear more young per litter.
To take a cue from M.F.K. Fisher, let us now consider the pig. No meat in history has been the focus of so much scorn and yet so much devotion as the simple swine. The subject of strict dietary prohibitions among cultures of the Middle East, India, and parts of Africa, pork is also the most beloved viand in China, France, Spain, and parts of Latin America. While any Jew or Muslim will flatly refuse to eat pork on religious grounds, pig consumption assumes a ritual significance in parts of Polynesia, Asia, and Latin America. Cassoulet at Tocai photo by John Anderson Pigs, as it turns out, were among the first domesticated animals.