• Page 1: Introduction
• Page 1: Primal Cuts Chart
• Page 2: Pork Terms A & B
• Page 3: Pork Terms C
• Page 4: Pork Terms D To G

• Page 5: Pork Terms H & I
• Page 6: Pork Terms J To O
• Page 7: Pork Terms P To R
• Page 8: Pork Terms Sa-Sm
• Page 9: Pork Terms So To Z

HAM
The ham comes from the back legs of the pig: It comprises the thigh and rear end of the pig. The bone is often left in, which adds flavor and includes the rump (the upper portion), the center and the shank (the lower portion). The upper part of the leg (above the knee) is called shank end; the bottom of the leg produces trotters. Ham can be cured or fresh. Different countries use different methods of curing and cooking the ham. See our separate glossary on the different types of ham.

HARD SALAMI or GERMAN HARD
SALAMI

German-style hard salami is a fine-textured blend of pork and beef, accented with garlic and smoky flavor. It is firmer in body than Genoa salami. Hard salami is a popular snack, sandwich ingredient and omelet ingredient. Pair its smoky flavor with some slices of smoked turkey breast or ham, and a spicy brown mustard. 

HERITAGE PORK & HERITAGE PIGS

Heritage pigs were what we ate before World War II and the rise of factory farming. They lived primarily outdoor lives, feasting on a natural diet of grass, grubs and grains, plus whey, and produced a fatter, meatier, more tender and tastier pork. With the onset of factory farming (see The Meatrix), pigs were bred to be learner and blander meat (and drier when cooked—because of the higher fat content, it’s hard to overcook heritage pork). Heritage pork is the result of small family farmers trying to keep these “heritage” pigs from extinction. Support from fine restaurants and the growing artisan food movement have helped bring great pork back to American plates. There are a variety of heritage pigs raised in the U.S. The most prevalent include:

Berkshire, or Kurobuta, Pig. The Berkshire pig is the most popular heritage breed (also known by its Japanese name, Kurobuta). It's beloved for its sweet, meaty, well-marbled flesh. See Berkshire pig.

Duroc Pig. This large red hog was first bred in New York and New Jersey in 1812. The meat is supple, very juicy and full-flavored. See Duroc pig.

Ossabaw Pig. A feral breed of Ibérico pig descent comes from pigs left on Ossabaw Island, Georgia by Spanish explorers. The meat has a wild, almost gamy flavor; but its most distinctive characteristic is a high percentage of healthy, monounsaturated fat. See Ossabaw Island pig.

Tamworth Pig. This old-fashioned bacon hog originated in Staffordshire, England—it is said that the meat smells almost like prosciutto. The pig’s ample belly provides excellent bacon; the meat is also used to make the best cured sausages. See Tamworth pig.

Red Wattle Pig. This pig is named for the pair of wattles dangling from its neck. Originally from New Caledonia in the South Pacific, the intensely-flavored pork has a good fat-to-meat ratio, excellent for making salume and air-cured meats. See Red Wattle Pig.

You can purchase heritage pork at HeritageFoodsUSA.com. See also industrial livestock pigs.

THE HISTORY OF PORK

According to the National Pork Board, the pig dates back some 40 million years. Fossils indicate that wild pig-like animals roamed forests and swamps in Europe and Asia. By 4900 B.C.E., pigs were domesticated in China, and were being raised in Europe by 1500 B.C.E. On the insistence of Queen Isabella, Christopher Columbus took eight pigs on his voyage to Cuba in 1493. But it is Hernando de Soto who could be dubbed “the father of the American pork industry.” In 1539 he landed the first 13 pigs at Tampa Bay, Florida. Native Americans reportedly became very fond of the taste of pork, resulting in some of the worst attacks on the de Soto expedition. By the time of de Soto’s death three years later, his pig herd had grown to 700 head, not including the ones his troops had consumed, those that ran away and became wild pigs (the ancestors of today’s feral pigs or razorbacks) and those given to the Native Americans to keep the peace.

Pig production spread throughout the New World. Hernando Cortez introduced hogs to New Mexico in 1600, and Sir Walter Raleigh brought sows to Jamestown Colony in 1607. Semi-wild pigs conducted such rampages in the grain fields of colonial New York that every owned pig 14 inches high or taller had to have a ring in its nose to prevent the pig from rooting. A long, solid wall was constructed on the northern edge of the Manhattan settlement to control roaming herds of pigs.—the area that is Wall Street. By 1660, the pig population of Pennsylvania colony numbered in the thousands. By the end of the 17th century, the typical farmer owned four or five pigs, supplying salt pork and bacon for his table with surpluses sold as barreled pork.

HOT DOG

The hot dog is a sausage that traces its lineage to the 15th-century Viennese sausage, or Wienerwurst in German. Johann Georghehner, a butcher from the German city of Coburg, in Bavaria, is credited with inventing the “dachshund” or “little dog” sausage in the 17th century, and brought it to Frankfurt—hence the names “frankfurter” and “weiner.” Yet, it was still a sausage eaten with a knife and fork, no bun. The hot dog, a slender sausage in a bun, is an American invention attributed to a German immigrant named Charles Feltman, who began selling sausages in rolls at a stand in Coney Island in 1871. The 1893 World Exposition in Chicago marked the debut of the hot dog vendor. According to National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, around this time that the hot dog first made its first appearance at a ballpark, at a St. Louis Browns.

IBÉRICO PIG

The Ibérico (Iberian) pig dates to the time of the cavemen who painted on the walls of the caves of Spain. The strain is distinctly different from other European pigs. Ibérico pigs are all black, with very little hair. The large hog has slender legs and a very long snout. The black hooves have earned the ham the nickname, “pata negra” (black hoof): The black hoof remains on the ham throughout the curing process and is how it can be distinguished from a Serrano ham, made from the Iberian white pig. Ibérico pigs also have a higher fat content. The large amount of fat layering each ham, enables the hams to be cured for a much longer period, resulting in a much more complex, intense flavor.

INDUSTRIAL LIVESTOCK PIGS
In contrast to smaller farms rearing heritage pigs, industrial pigs are raised on a much larger scale on industrial farms. They are raised mostly indoors on a commercial feed, and have a considerably shorter life span.

IRISH BACON
Irish bacon is similar to Canadian bacon in that it is made from the loin. However, unlike Canadian bacon, there tends to be a layer of fat around the meat to enhance the flavor. Because it is cut from the loin, it is also called back bacon.