[Sca-cooks] fat or skinny period pigs

[Jennifer]

Just for a modern comparison:  We have feral pigs on our family's ranch.  While they are of modern breeds, after only a relatively few generations in the wild (sows can farrow twice a year), they are more hairy, trimmer, and less fat than their domesticated cousins.  The flavor is also more pronounced than that of commercial pork. 
 
My thought would be that medieval swine that foraged most of the year and were driven out when ready for slaughter, would be fairly lean.  If kept, or penned before slaughter, there would be an opportunity to fatten them up first.
 
In servicio,
 
Talana