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Pork

Pork, more than any other meat, requires to be chosen with the greatest care. The pig, from its gluttonous habits, is particularly liable to disease, and if it is killed and its flesh eaten when it is in an unhealthy condition, those who partake of it will probably have to pay dearly for their indulgence. It is generally understood that dairy-fed pork is the best. When it is possible, therefore, it is always safest to obtain pork direct from some farm where it has been fed and killed. When this cannot be done, it should either be purchased from a thoroughly respectable and reliable person or dispensed with altogether. Pork is best in cold weather. It is in season from November to March. It should be avoided during the summer months. The fat should be white and firm, the lean finely grained, and the skin thin and cool. If the skin is thick, the pig is old; if it is clammy, it is stale; if any kernels are to be seen in the fat, the pig was diseased at the time it was killed. Pork should not be allowed to hang more than a day or two before it is cooked, as it will not keep unless it be salted. If cooked quite fresh, however, it will be hard. The head, heart, kidneys, liver, etc., should be cooked as soon as possible. Care should be taken that pork is thoroughly cooked, as it is most indigestible when underdone. A porker, or pig which is to be cut up for fresh pork, is generally killed when it is from six to nine months old. A bacon pig is allowed to grow older and bigger. The manner of cutting up the pig varies in different parts. A porker is generally divided as follows:- 1. Sparerib. Roasted. To be cooked whilst fresh. 10d. to 10 1/2d. per pound. 2. Hand. Slightly salted and boiled. Generally too fat for roasting. 8d. to 9d. per pound. 3. Belly, or spring. Slightly salted and boiled, or salted for bacon. 9d. to 10d. per pound. 4. Fore Ioin. To be jointed and roasted, Cut into chops, used for curry or for pies. 9 1/2d. to 10 1/2d. per pound. 5. Hind Ioin. Ditto, ditto. 11d. per pound. 6. Leg. Roasted, or salted and boiled. Most economical joint. 10d. to 11d. per pound. Head. Stuffed like a sucking-pig and roasted. Or cheeks salted and boiled, the rest of the head, with other parts of the animal, i.e. the tongue, feet, and ears, being salted and made into brawn. 5d. to 6 1/2d. per pound. Fry, including the liver, heart, kidneys, etc. To be cooked as soon as possible. 5d. per pound. Feet. Salted, boiled, and served with parsley sauce. 1 1/2d. to 3d. each. A bacon pig is cut up differently. The chine is in some parts cut from the centre of the pig the whole length from the tail to the neck. In other parts the meat which is taken from the upper part of the spine, between the shoulders, is called the chine, and the hind loin the griskin. The chine may be salted and boiled, or roasted. It is highly esteemed. The hind leg is salted and cured, and called ham; the fore leg is generally left with the side, and salted for bacon. The spare rib is sometimes cut out, Oftener it is left with the bacon. Sometimes the meat for bacon is cut off from the shoulder-blade and bones, and the latter, with very little meat on them, are divided into chines, spare-ribs, and griskins. The inner fat is melted down for lard. In pickling pork great care must be taken that every part is basted regularly and turned about in the brine. If any portion is long exposed to the air it may be spoiled.