If you love pork and live on the West Coast, get ready: the world of gourmet bacon is about to get a bit more wild and a lot more wooly. Companies like the Washington-based Wooly Pigs are importing and breeding a sort of hairy Hungarian pig known as a mangalica, famous for being the most delicious and decadently marbled pork product on the planet.

Mangalitsas (a British spelling) are a flavorful fat-filled beast first bred in 19th-century Hungary from the hardy hogs of the Balkan mountains. These stocky sausage fests became popular among the farms and rural settlements of Eastern Europe due to their robust nature and low maintenance costs compared to other breeds. Wikipedia contributors claim the popularity of the wooly pig declined in the 20th century in part due to the advent of preservatives like refrigeration and vacuum seals, and while no reason is given I would suggest that this is due in part to the higher fat content of lard-breeds like the Mangalista when compared to lean-breeds like the Berkshires (another strain of high-quality bacon beasts), which these days run much smaller and leaner than their fuzzy Eastern European cousins. Meats rich in monounsaturated fats are less likely to go rancid without refrigeration, and thus the high fat content which makes mangalitsa lard such a prize find for modern foodies was a serious survival concern for Hungarian farmers seeking cured meats that could safely keep their families fed throughout the long Balkan winters.



Like many red-blooded patriots I've always held bacon in high regard, indeed I've been known on more than one occasion to proclaim pork the prince of cured meat products; that said, I'm anxious at the thought of my porcine prince slipping inadvertently into the gilded cage of "the next big thing" in gourmet food products. First coffee, then cupcakes took their brief turns on the porcelain stage of the fawning foodistas, only to be relegated to the gourmet ghettos of yuppie markets like Whole Foods and Andronico's once their splendor spoiled.

So rejoice, pork lovers, and pursue your fuzzy pig fat fix in foodie outposts across the country. But in your pursuit of what Wooly Pigs PR calls "America's 'it' pig," I implore you not to forget the rustic pleasure of waking up to the scent of Hilshire Farms mystery meat smoking on the griddle. Mangalitsa may be perfect for (literally) whipping up a batch of lard cookies or complementing a veggie hors d'œuvre, but there's no better complement for a skillet of cheesy eggs than half a rack of Hilshire's finest.