[Sca-cooks] pig cheese

JIMCHEVAL at aol.com JIMCHEVAL at aol.com
Mon Mar 18 22:05:40 PDT 2013


My own curiosity having been piqued, I did a search. It turns out  others 
have considered the question, mainly in the negative:
 
" “Anyone who farms pigs would say that  pigs' milk would make an 
incredible cheese,” he says. “The problem is that it's  nearly impossible to milk 
pigs. When sows are lactating, they get very  aggressive. "

_http://boingboing.net/2012/07/25/pigs-milk-and-other-difficu.html_ 
(http://boingboing.net/2012/07/25/pigs-milk-and-other-difficu.html) 


Then there's this:

"Milking  a pig is extraordinarily difficult, to say the least. For one 
thing, they have  fourteen teats as opposed to a cow’s four, and when 
stimulated to produce  oxytocin, they eject the milk for only fifteen seconds at a 
time (the ejection  time of a cow, by contrast, is well over ten minutes). 
Hence it requires  enormous dexterity, skill and speed. "
Only... the second quote is from an article on a  cheese. An actual cheese, 
made from pig's milk:
"certainly  Italy’s most closely-guarded culinary secret, a rare cheese 
made from pig’s milk  called Porcorino"
_http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/raresttuscancheese.asp_ 
(http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/raresttuscancheese.asp) 
 
And apparently it's not  bad:
"It  has a consistency both firm and runny, somewhere between brie and 
peccorino. The  flavor clobbers the hard palate with a sensation nearly 
indescribable in its  complexity and overwhelming richness: a product of the swine 
to make one swoon.  Imagine a milky tiramisu that melts and vibrates before 
exploding with overtones  of porcini mushroom and a back taste hint of 
chestnuts (perhaps a product of the  pig’s diet). Imagine damp woods, crisp autumn 
leaves crunching under foot, a dog  barking in the distance. Imagine wild 
strawberries and rotting  logs."


Only... there's those fourteen teats. Etc. Which explains why  it never 
caught on. Still - am I the only one who's intrigued?



Jim  Chevallier
www.chezjim.com

Newly translated from Pierre Jean-Baptiste  Le Grand d'Aussy:
Eggs, Cheese and Butter in Old Regime France  

 
In a message dated 3/17/2013 7:37:59 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
JIMCHEVAL at aol.com writes:

You can  also milk a pig, as far as that goes. No one seems to want to  
though.




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