Mangalitsa Pigs - Mangalitsa Charcuterie

 The Mangalitsa is a special pig, it has curly hair and it is quite rare.  Their dark well marbled meat, similar to kobe beef is full of flavor and unique to the pork world. Their fat is healthy and rich of Omega3, Omega 6, and higher in good monounsaturated fats than any other domesticated animal.  In the early 1990s there were just 198 Mangalitsa pigs left,  a  Hungarian animal geneticist became alarmed. He began a program that  encouraged dedicated farmers to keep the breed alive, and raise the pigs  on pastureland in the traditional way. Today there are more than 50000 pigs in existence. Heavily marbled, deep red in color. Known to produce some of the best charcuterie in the world, the Mangalitsa is a spectacular pig.  "How does a pig go from being the most popular and commonly-raised breed  in the mid-1800s to near extinction by the 1990s? The answer lies in the  fat. Mangalitsa are “lard type” pigs, and before vegetable oils were  introduced, lard was the cooking medium of choice. Lard was used in  cooking, candles, soap and cosmetics. Even industrial lubricants and  explosives were produced from this valuable fat. Lard fell from favor in  the mid-20th century when modern science declared that saturated fats  were dangerous to human health. However, lard has less saturated fat and  more unsaturated fat than an equal amount of butter, and contains no  trans fat, unlike margarine, vegetable shortenings and hydrogenated  fats. And lard has been seeing a comeback in recent years, as chefs  realize that no other cooking medium has the qualities and flavor of  lard. Foodies and farmers are rehabilitating the reputation of lard, and  science is even reexamining the studies on lard.  Untouched since 1833, the breed's genetics are among the most pure in  the pig world. Bred to live outdoors in cold Hungarian winters perfect for Maine winters. 

Matt was a successful business owner in Massachusetts, and Maisie was a software analyst. Our family yearned for a life closer to the land, and to build a family business and way of life that would provide our children with access to as much green space as possible and we took the magnificent opportunity to move to Maine in 2017.   Our first year was full of research and experimentation. In the winter of 2018, we tapped our maple trees and eventually made six gallons of maple syrup. We started our apiary in May of 2018 with 5 packages of Italian bees from Rossman’s Apiary in Georgia sourced through David Spicer www.spicerbees.com in Whitefield. We had attempted beekeeping together in Massachusetts and even though Maisie grew up helping her dad keep bees, we had so much to learn! Maisie was incredibly fortunate to take the Knox Lincoln County “Bee School” in the spring of 2018 and was able to vastly improve our knowledge of how to be effective stewards for honeybees. We now have more hives than when we started and are hoping our winter hive preparations will be successful in bringing the bees through the frigid winter. In the spring of 2018, we planted green beans, squash, pumpkins, peppers, and spinach to see how well they would grow. We quickly found that the local wildlife including mostly woodchucks and deer love to eat our crops. 2019 to present we sell our products at a farmers market in waldoboro, Rising tide Co-op, Walpole Barn and our farm stand.  Our farm’s tale is always evolving and here we want to share our enthusiastic love of this land and our stories and images of working here.