I live overseas in Slovakia and the weather has finally gotten consistently good enough to fire up my balcony Weber. Getting good quality beef steaks here is still a challenge, but it's almost made up for with the quality of pork.
Today I grabbed some Mangalica bone-on chops. The Mangalica (Mangalitsa) is usually thought of as Hungarian but as Slovakia was part of Royal Hungary, it has a tradition of producing similar food products, like Tokaj (Tokay) wine. Raw Mangalica pork is easy to spot in the butcher counter. It has veins of very creamy-white fat and the flesh is almost as red as beef. When Emperor Franz Jozef dined on porkchops, Mangalica was on the table. The fat melts a much lower temperature than regular pork, infuses the meat, and makes everything taste like your average pork chop turned up to 11. Breeders feed hogs on a combination of fodder and pasture. Most Mangalica ends up as the best sausage, bacon, and ham you've ever eaten (sausage spiced with plenty of garlic and paprika), but the neck and loin meat is kept aside for cooked dishes.
For these chops, I just gave them a quick bath in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, paprika, and bay. Grilled over a medium fire and served with grilled veggies. This is a rich meat and so I poured a local red Dunaj dry wine.
In the U.S. this is a luxury product but it easily worth trying as a break from high-end beef steaks. There are producers that sell online. Pick up some chops and don't skip the bacon.
Today I grabbed some Mangalica bone-on chops. The Mangalica (Mangalitsa) is usually thought of as Hungarian but as Slovakia was part of Royal Hungary, it has a tradition of producing similar food products, like Tokaj (Tokay) wine. Raw Mangalica pork is easy to spot in the butcher counter. It has veins of very creamy-white fat and the flesh is almost as red as beef. When Emperor Franz Jozef dined on porkchops, Mangalica was on the table. The fat melts a much lower temperature than regular pork, infuses the meat, and makes everything taste like your average pork chop turned up to 11. Breeders feed hogs on a combination of fodder and pasture. Most Mangalica ends up as the best sausage, bacon, and ham you've ever eaten (sausage spiced with plenty of garlic and paprika), but the neck and loin meat is kept aside for cooked dishes.
For these chops, I just gave them a quick bath in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, paprika, and bay. Grilled over a medium fire and served with grilled veggies. This is a rich meat and so I poured a local red Dunaj dry wine.
In the U.S. this is a luxury product but it easily worth trying as a break from high-end beef steaks. There are producers that sell online. Pick up some chops and don't skip the bacon.