Christmas Morning Mangalitsa Bacon Taste-Off

A post about Mangalitsa bacon on A Hunger Artist led me to Foods in Season, which has just opened a small online store selling to individuals. Their selection isn't huge, but sure enough, they had a Mangalitsa bacon sampler from Wooly Pigs (fairly thorough discussion of the breed at the website). It arrived in time for a lateral Christmas breakfast tasting. To the three types of bacon in the sampler I added some fresh side from Babes in the Woods for comparison. Can't think of a better way to start a feast day.

Picture shows each type on the griddle. From the top: the fresh side; smoked loin; jowl bacon, and regular bacon along the sides. The difference between breeds is most clear when comparing the regular bacon. You can tell that the Babes in the Woods pigs are bred for leanness, and the Mangalitsas are bred for fat.

Cooking Notes: The leaner cuts, surprisingly (at least, to me), cooked up a bit more quickly than the fattier ones, so all were done at about the same time even though the cuts of fresh side were at least twice as thick as the Mangalitsa bacon slices. The first post picture shows them all draining on paper towels. The Mangalitsa shrank a little less than I'd expected, given all the fat, but it did leave a very nice base in which to fry our breakfast eggs.

Eating Notes: It simply is not possible to compare the two meats using the same scale. The Babes in the Woods fresh side is earthy and densely chewy, like meat from a past we're to young to have been part of. The Mangalitsa - all of it, including the loin - is completely different. The fat melts in your mouth and the meat is delicate and sweet, even with the hickory smoking. That really was my only complaint, that the meat and fat on the Mangalitsa were so good and delicate that even the relatively mild salt and hickory smoke was an intrusion. That said, the jowl was among if not the best cured bacon we've ever had. The loin was reminiscent of prosciutto, and would be astonishing with shrimp or asparagus. The bacon, although in our opinion the lesser of the three, was still retained that combination of a crisp sharpness followed by melt-in-your-mouth umami that made you feel not at all wrong for plunking down too much money for 36 oz of drop-shipped bacon.

When I order Mangalitsa again (which I will) I'll probably stick to the jowl bacon with maybe a bit of loin thrown in. And if Wooly Pigs/Foods in Season ever offers fresh side, I'll do my best to be first in line.