News and Reviews

By celebrity chef Rozanne Stevens.

After chicken, pork is the most popular meat consumed in Ireland. We eat it in all shapes and forms:ham, bacon, rashers, sausages, luncheon meat, pork fillet, black pudding and roast dinners. As an ex vegetarian, I was still a little squeamish about pork, so I set off to find the happiest pigs I could.

So off I went in my sparkly silver flip flops to visit Gold River Farm in Co. Wicklow, a certified organic farm producing a variety of fruit, vegetables and most recently, organic outdoor bred pigs. The farm started at 7acres and has grown to 120acres. Alan Pierce and Mark Winterbotham were both dead against pig farming, having been put off the idea at college after seeing conventional pig farming. Until a local organic restaurateur, Evan Doyle, approached them and guaranteed he would purchase 60 pigs per annum. And so Mark and Alan started breeding pigs and were delighted to find that the pigs fitted into the farm so well and contributed so much.

The pigs are very familiar with the farmers as they need to be able to handle and touch them and move them from field to field. I can certainly attest to this, I have never met such friendly farm animals.  I thought the guys were joking when  they said the pigs like sparkly things and toes. As soon as I climbed over the fence, the whole herd came running over to check me out and were licking my toes! So while they are very tame, Mark and Alan agree that you still do need to respect the animal, especially a mother pig or a boar during breeding season.

As Gold River is predominantly fruit and vegetable farming, the pigs are integrated into this. Once a crop is harvested, the pigs are then moved into that field. They will  gobble up any leftover vegetables but most importantly rotavate the soil which aerates it. The pigs are fed organic feed and organic vegetables which produces the perfect fertiliser for the soil: organic pig manure! They live this happy life until they are butchered at about 7 months, when they have reached the right size. This is about 6 weeks longer than conventional farming

The pigs go to an organic butcher, Ed Hicks, to be butchered and turned into joints, sausages, black and white puddings. Like organic farming, Ed is strictly monitored with all his recipes having to be pre approved and his premises having regular audits. Organic in Ireland is very well governed and organic does really does mean organic.

Nutritionally, organic pork is superior in flavour and health benefits. Most importantly, it is free from the chemicals that are used in non organic products. We know these are not good for us and contribute to our overall toxic load. Most interestingly, the better the diet of the pigs, the more healthier the fat becomes. It changes from a saturated fat to a more mono saturated profile. This is better for cholesterol levels and heart disease. In South Africa, there is an ad campaign promoting pork as ‘the other white meat’. This is to promote lean pork as a good source of protein. Pork fillet would be a very lean cut cut of pork

So this summer enjoy some tender pork fillet, juicy pork ribs or the obligatory sausage or rasher on the BBQ!

Top Tips For Pork Fillet

1.)  Use thin strips in stir fries, especially sweet and sour.
2.)  Flatten out with a mallet, flour, egg and crumb. Shallow fry in a little oil to make crispy schnitzels. Serve with mustard, mashed potato and cabbage.
3.)  Skewer on bamboo skewers and add pineapple, peppers and onion. Marinade in sweet chilli sauce, lime and soy sauce. BBQ or cook under the grill.
4.)  Use in a strognanoff instead of beef.
5.)  Make a traditional Hungarian goulash.
6.)  Cut open and flatten out, stuff with apricots, pistachio nuts and coriander. Wrap in Parma ham and roast in the oven.
7.)  Same method, but stuff with wilted spinach and mushrooms, wrap in Parma ham.
8.)  Cut the fillet into medallions and pan fry until golden, serve with a creamy mushroom sauce.
9.)  Same method, but deglaze the pan with brandy, add cream, toasted flaked almonds and raisins.
10.) Cut into medallions, flatten each one out and using a toothpick, pin a fresh sage leaf to the ’saltimbocca’. Heat olive oil in the pan and cook sage leave down first the flip over. Deglaze the pan with Masala and make a gravy with chicken stock.

Visit: www.rozannestevens.com

Posted by

Darren

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