producer series: Get to
chefs tal
Know Your arcutier— by Julie Pegg
What you’v
Talking Pork with John (Jan) van der Lieck Julie Pegg
of Oyama Sausage Company
I
love pork—chops, roasts, hams and, for breakfast, sausages and crispy bacon. I love pork pie. And black pudding—blood sausage bound by oatmeal and barley. I even have a taste for headcheese, or brawn as Brits refer to the jellied knobs and bobs of the pig’s head. Over the years, European travels have introduced me to salumi and genuine Italian mortadella (not that horrid corruption known as bologna) that is flecked with lard, pepper and sometimes pistachios. Then there are German wursts, Spanish chorizos and, ultimately, chunky, bacon-wrapped French terrines. But for all these porcine forays, I have looked little beyond the display case— until a recent visit to Suffolk in the U.K. There, plump, pale-skinned pigs roam about the fields or settle in front of their domed huts. They look so happy and healthy—and are rather endearing. I figured all pigs were Miss Piggy pink. I found out otherwise in London’s Borough Market, where meat vendors also tout the naturally raised ginger-haired Tamworth, the white-snouted and socked black Berkshire as well as the Large English Black, from which come their fresh, cured and cooked pork products. The pigs I saw roaming the Suffolk pastures were likely Middle Whites. Which caused me to wonder. What are the differences among breeds, and the benefits of rearing them naturally? Back in Vancouver I meet with John (Jan) van der Lieck at Oyama Sausage Company’s spanking new production facility in South Vancouver to talk pork. The tall, fit, rosycheeked butcher has been up since 5 a.m. and has already finished a good morning’s cutting and curing. Like he and his assistants, I don the customary “shower” cap and white “lab” coat. Van der Lieck, a master butcher, fifth-generation sausage maker and certified charcutier, is a walking, talking encyclopedia regarding the family Suidae. He is also schooled in animal husbandry (the care and breeding of livestock). I can’t scribble fast enough. Van der Lieck dispels immediately the common misconceptions about the pig, how they are often looked upon as dirty, stupid and lazy—none of which is accurate. Swine are intelligent, sensitive and social. They hate being penned. Left free to roam forest and field, they are great foragers, happy to graze on bracken, beechnuts, acorns, windfall fruit, beet tops, turnips, potatoes, clover and grass. Their penchant for a cool mud bath (and a cold shower) is because they lack sweat glands and sunburn easily. They can also run like hell. And when ready to farrow, the smart and very maternal sow will construct a comfy nest from twigs and straw. Battery-raised pigs, which are confined, treated with antibiotics and given no straw on which to bed down or give birth, suffer extreme stress Their corn/soy-based diet often produces pale bland meat. But a pastured pig is a happy pig, resulting in pink, juicy flesh. As Van der Lieck says—“a better life means better meat.”
46
EAT MAGAZINE NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2012
Increasingly, butchers and charcutiers (strictly speaking, charcuterie is made only from pork) are forking over dollars for naturally raised heritage breeds. The most popular rare breed in B.C. is the Berkshire, which is market-ready in about nine months. Fat content varies from hog to hog—“just like humans” says van der Lieck. By and large, though, the Berkshire is well marbled, the meat moist and flavourful. Van der Lieck’s main go-to for Berkshire pork is First Nature Farms’ Jerry Kitt in Alberta, whose pastured pigs thrive on organic grains, flax and peas. The meat is rosy pink, tender and juicy. Back fat is snow-white “veggie” fat and not too thick. It makes lovely lard. Van der Lieck also sources free-range, grass-fed Berkshire pork from Cutter Ranch in Clinton, and some from Fraser Valley. He would like to work more with the rugged Tamworth, one of the oldest rare breeds. A direct descendant of the wild boar, it is content rooting around forest floors. At the moment, though, van der Lieck is focused on acquiring more English Blacks, which have it all—resistance to sun (white breeds burn easily), expert foraging abilities and docile manner. They are prized for large hams, good belly and succulent fine-grained meat, not unlike game. Van der Lieck is almost as fussy about spicing sausages as he is about sourcing meat. To prove a point, he smashes a juniper berry with a measuring cup. The berry sticks to the bottom. “That is the difference between a fresh and stale berry. Old fruit that has lost its resin would simply fall off.” He passes commercial white peppercorns under my nose for a sniff—then premium peppercorns. The first elicits an immediate sneeze. The second batch I nose like wine—the corns are delicately floral and lightly pungent. Then I get a lovely perfumed whiff of fine marjoram. If, according to van der Lieck, “white pepper is the queen of spice for pork” then marjoram must be the king of herbs. The proof of quality is in the pudding. Oyama’s Scottish-style black pudding is mild, grainy and crisps nicely in the pan. So does a creamy breakfast sausage flecked with the aforementioned pepper, marjoram and onion. Pickled headcheese is delicate and delicious. Black pig Muscato salami and prosciutto melt on the palate. Wild boar sausage (from undomesticated male and female pigs) is highly flavoured but not gamey. As I bid John van der Lieck adieu, he wraps up a chunk of snow-white fat for me, which I will render slowly into lovely lard. He also lends me a book, Mourjou—The Life and Food of an Auvergne Village by Peter Graham. I turn at once to the chapter titled “Pork.” Oyama Sausage, www.oyamasausage.ca First Nature Farms, www.firstnaturefarms.ab.ca Cutter Ranch, www.cutterranchlamb.ca (but also Berkshire pork!) Mourjou: Life and Food of an Auvergne Village (Prospect Books, new edition, 2003) See EATmagazine.ca for a recipe from this book.
Andrew L 250.590.8 A big, juicy season but red wine an
Jamie Cum My most m lemon and them.
Jena Stew Pumpkin p Thanksgivi pumpkins was quite m beautiful p thought m Annie's org a really goo filling from
Sam Chal
Our Thank lobe of foie amazing!
Matthew 250.768.6 As we have season at M orphan’s Th the two of u The 2011 m elk tenderl smattering tart and lot
Garrett Sc It was Chri turkey, and etc., howev steamed th chanterelle moments l feeling than
Laurence Well most house and take over c was just me Brussels sp best.