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PorkPork is the meat taken from pigs. While it is one of the most common meats consumed by Chinese, Thais, Vietnamese and Europeans, and to some extent North Americans, it is not considered kosher in Judaism or halal under Islamic law. Pigs are one of the oldest forms of livestock, having been domesticated as early as 5000 BC . It is believed to have been domesticated either in the Near East or in China from the Wild Boar. The adaptable nature and omnivorous diet of the Wild Boar allowed early humans to domesticate it much earlier than many other forms of livestock, such as cattle. Pigs were mostly used for food, but people also used their hide for shields, their bones for tools and weapons, and their bristles for brushes. This section is a stub. You can help by adding to it. Pork is the most widely eaten meat in the world: about 38 percent of daily meat protein intake worldwide is from pork. Despite religious restrictions on the consumption of pork and the prominence of red meat industries in the west (beef and lamb), pork is widely eaten throughout the world although pork consumption varies widely. Pork consumption has been rising for thirty years, both in actual terms and in terms of meat-market share. Most of the carcass can be used to produce fresh meat and in the case of a sucking pig the whole body of a young pig ranging in age from two to six weeks is roasted. Legs and shoulders, when used fresh, are usually cut bone-in for roasting, or leg steaks can be cut from the bone. These are also the most popular sources of hams. The belly, although a fattier meat, can be used for steaks or diced stir fry meat. Belly pork may be rolled for roasting. The loin, the meat along the back of the pig, can be used for a wide variety of products including pork chops or loin roast. Bacon also comes from the loin. Pork ribs are taken from the pigs' ribs and the meat surrounding the bones. Some cuisines use the head joint to make stock or soups. Pork is particularly common as an ingredient of sausages. Many traditional European sausages are made with pork, including chorizo, fuet, and salami. Pork may also be used as a cheap ingredient in supermarket sausages. Ham and bacon are made from fresh pork by curing with salt (pickling) and/or smoking. Shoulders and legs are most commonly cured in this manner for ham whereas streaky and round bacon usually comes from the loin, although it may also come from the side and belly. Ham and bacon are popular foods in the west, and their consumption has increased with industrialisation. Non-western cuisines also use preserved meat products. For example, salted preserved pork or red roasted pork is used in Chinese and Asian cuisine. In order to utilise the whole carcass ("everything but the squeal"), parts of the pig such as knuckle, pigs’s feet ("trotters"), chitterlings (pork intestines), and hog jowls may be eaten. In earlier centuries in the United States some of these products figured prominently in the traditional diets of poor Southerners (see soul food). Scrapple and McRib are other examples of aggregate pork products. Check out the following recipes that are tagged "Pork":
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