PORK. The title "pork" covers all the flesh, fresh or cured, of pigs or swine, but in ordinary use it is not applied to the flesh when smoked, as ham and bacon. This is another example of the curious changes that have occurred in the English language, for "bacon" was formerly applied to all meat from the pig, of any part and whether fresh, salted or smoked! A general division of the carcass is shown in the accompanying diagram from a Bulletin published by the U. S. Department of Agriculture.
The Back Cut designated is almost clear fat and is used for salting and pickling, or "corning." The Middle Cut and Belly are generally used for bacon, but also for salting, the former being sometimes termed "lean ends" salt pork. From the Ribs and Loin (beneath the Back Cut) are obtained "spare ribs," eaten both fresh and corned; "chops" and "roasting pieces." The Tenderloin proper is a comparatively lean and very small strip of meat lying under the bones of the Loin and usually weighing a fraction of a pound.
The Hams and Shoulders are generally cured, but are also sold fresh as "pork steak" and "fresh pork," etc. The Shoulder is in the South frequently sold entire, dry salted—being then known to many in the trade as the "English shoulder." Through out other parts of the country it is generally cut into two parts—the "picnic," or "smoked shoulder" (formerly styled or "California Ham") and the "bone less butt" or "regular butt." The "picnic shoulder," plain cured or cured and smoked, is very popular because of its conveniently small size.
The fat trimmed off the hams and shoulders, may be rendered for lard or it may go, with all other trimmings, into the manufacture of sausages.
The leaf fat which lies around the kidneys furnishes the finest quality lard, called "leaf lard" in many localities.
"Larding pork" is very fat pork, from the loin and ribs, cured and preserved with ordinary cooking salt.
The head, feet and tails are eaten both fresh and pickled.
The annual consumption of pork is enormous, attributable partly to its food value, which is enhanced for use in cold and temperate climates by its heating properties, and partly to the fact that it lends itself more acceptably to "curing" than any other form of animal food.
The United States is a long way in the lead as a pork-producer, consuming a high per capita amount at home and shipping vast quantities to Europe and other parts of the world, both for private consumption and for the commissary departments of armies and navies. Ireland is the next largest producer of cured pork.
Pork should be smooth and cool to the touch. If it feels clammy and looks flabby. it is not fresh—and therefore not desirable. If it has many enlarged glands or ker nels in the fat or fine black spots in the belly strips, it may generally be regarded as from a diseased animal, and therefore unfit for human consumption.
It should always be thoroughly cooked before eating (see TRICHINAE) .
Following are the requirements of the Chicago Board of Trade concerning the cutting and packing of pork :