October 19, 2004
Good Living Cover Story – Simon Thomsen
Bright lights, pig
city
Why
Sweet Pork is sweeping Sydney’s menus
Pork of the town
La
Grande Bouffe's confit of Bangalow Pork Belly with cabbage and apple.
Photo: Quentin
Jones
Where
there's fat there's flavour - and Sydney's chefs can't get enough
of the next pig thing.
Homer:
Lisa honey, are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again?
What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad! Those all come from the same animal!
Homer: Yeah, right Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.
(The
Simpsons, Lisa the Vegetarian)
Joe Byrne reckons he has set the Australian pork industry back 25 years
- and he's "proud of it."
Byrne is the marketing director for Bangalow Sweet Pork and his passion
to put the fat and flavour back in pork, in partnership with producer
Jim Berting, has put a bucolic village in the Byron hinterland on the
culinary map. City diners could be forgiven for thinking that decadently
fatty pigs now roam Bangalow's historic streets.
"Over 25 years," Byrne says, "the fat content in pork
has been halved. Quality only had one parameter and that was lack of
fat, so the meaning of quality has been distorted to mean lean. But you've
got to have the fat if you want flavour and moist meat. It's the basis
of our unique flavour and tenderness."
Things
took a wrong turn, Byrne argues, with the arrival of
"new-fashioned pork". Believing consumers were terrified of fat,
the industry's marketing body, Australian PorkLtd
(formerly the Australian Pork Corporation), emphasised "lean" pork
during the 1990s.
Critics interpret lean as "dry and tasteless" and argue that
if you want flavour, you have to have the fat. And it seems chefs and
diners agree - pork belly, with its enticing layers of fat and meat,
is unavoidable on many Sydney menus.
APL's media manager, John Lamont, says the simple fact is the restaurant
industry and the home consumer have different expectations. The fat isn't
welcome at home.
"When people go out for a dining occasion they're not going out
to diet," he says. "Different sections of the market have different
tastes.
"The educative role of the latest marketing is to address the idea
that you have to cook the hell out of pork, which people learnt at the
knee of their grandmother. The low-fat cuts can't afford to cook for
too long. But if you cook it on a medium heat, for two minutes a side,
then it keeps its juiciness."
Byrne
in part blames an obsession with fat for the prevalence of bad pork.
"This country is fanatical in its food fads," he says, "whether
it's red meat or salt or pork fat. [Consumers] go from one extreme to the other
and don't think about moderation.
Chef
Colin Fassnidge from La Grande Bouffe
Photo:Quentin
Jones
"When the pork industry got into bed with the health nazis everybody
forgot about taste. Jim wanted to stop the rot, but it's been pretty
hard to battle the status quo."
That hasn't stopped the pair turning the accepted industry wisdom on
its head.
Farmers are expected to produce pork with a certain level of back fat
and at a certain weight; those with larger pigs or high fat levels face
financial penalties.
Tallabung Pork, a new boutique producer near Forbes in the state's central
west, is following in the footsteps of Bangalow Sweet Pork. After 20
years of growing white pigs, Andrew and Bec Williams have turned to creating
a premium product with fat and marbling.
Bec says the measuring system "crucifies"
farmers: "It's simply not feasible to produce 100 pigs with 12mm
of back fat and weighing up to 65 kilos. In fact, it's impossible."
Byrne says only the middlemen, who pay the farmers less and pocket the
difference, benefit from this system.
Between them, Byrne and Berting have spent more than half a century
in pork. Byrne once dealt in commodity pigs, selling about 1000 a week;
now, as a niche producer, the figure is just 70 a week.
The spark for Bangalow Sweet Pork came when a disgruntled Italian client
asked Byrne whether he could do better. Byrne turned to Berting, who
began working on the breeding and feeding to return fat and marbling
to the pig meat. Three accredited farms now produce Bangalow pork, which
goes through a strict quality assurance program using computers to monitor
every animal.
Despite the support of leading chefs, the company has taken five years
to get its head above water in an industry where many fail.
"More than anything, our philosophy has been about keeping the
producers viable. That means we pay a premium price and charge one too," Byrne
says.
To deal with the fat issue, Berting also worked on raising the level
of "good" unsaturated fats to almost two-thirds of the total
fat content.
The results were a revelation to Sydney's chefs. Irish chef Colin Fassnidge
of La Grande Bouffe in Rozelle uses Bangalow pork in his confit of belly,
served with cabbage puree, apple sauce and red wine jus. He made the
switch four years ago.
"It's like tasting the difference between a battery chicken and
a free-range corn-fed chicken," he says. "The cheap pork turns
people off the meat and gives pork a bad rap. The Bangalow pork has better
crackling and moister flesh. What do you want, quality or quantity? The
cheaper pork would be better for business [but] people are coming back
to us saying that they're appreciating the flavour of the Bangalow product."
Darren Simpson at Aqua Luna reckons Australians do not understand pork. "When
I first came here five years ago, I thought meat production was shocking," he
says, "It's come a long way since then, thanks partly to people
like Joe Byrne. It's great to see someone pushing a product they're passionate
about. It's all about the fat - that's where the flavour is."
At nearby Aria, Matt Moran's confit of pork belly with caramelised apple
and balsamic is becoming a signature dish.
"In many ways," he says, "[Bangalow] has changed a lot
of people's thinking about pork and put it back on the map. For years
we were always told to eat lean, non-fat pork, but we had complaints
that it is tasteless and dry. I stopped buying pork and chefs in general
stopped cooking it, because it came out as dry as, and tasting like cardboard."
It's a common criticism from chefs about most pork. Justin North from
Becasse says it took time to change customer attitudes to eating pork
fat. "It's because they'd had it drilled into them that fat's bad
for you. Now people are starting to appreciate and understand it," he
says.
Bangalow Sweet Pork is rarely off his menu and it also features in his
coming book about his favourite producers.
"I haven't seen anything like this in Australia for as long as
I can remember," North says. "It's so different to how the
pork industry's been over the last few years.
Moving from regular white pigs to rarer breeds that take longer to produce,
the Williamses took two years to develop Tallabung Pork, which has been
available for just four months.
Matt Moran compares it favourably with Bangalow Sweet Pork and it's
already on the menu at hatted regional restaurants, such as Orange's
Lolli Redini, Millthorpe's Tonic and Collits Inn on the western side
of the Blue Mountains. Luke Mangan has it on the menu at Moorish and
it is available at Jones the Grocer in Woollahra.
Tallabung produces just 10 pigs a week, using older English breeds and
the endangered large black - which is regarded as the pork equivalent
of wagyu beef - but hopes to increase it to 50. The meat is hung for
additional flavour and tenderness.
Simonn Hawke from Lolli Redini says she's had nothing but good feedback, "especially
from older people who remember what pork was like and say it's the best
they've ever had. It has a sweet flavour and is moist, and the marbling
goes right through the flesh."
Of course, success breeds imitators and the word Bangalow is appearing
more frequently than $2 Rolex watches as the less scrupulous try to lure
the unsuspecting. There's no doubt the name is sticking in people's memories.
"If I put the word Bangalow on the menu, it walks out the door," Restaurant
Balzac's Matthew Kemp says. "Other chefs are using the word but
the pork is crap."
Justin North says others are starting to copy the Bangalow approach, "so
far, without the same success, but it's a good trend".
To combat the imitators, Byrne is implementing DNA testing to track
Bangalow pigs and weed out any fakes and is planning accreditation for
restaurants serving his pork. Butchers who sell it have to sign agreements.
His pride in his product is a reminder that sometimes, the good old days
were really good.
The
Italian connection
If you want to understand pork, talk to an Italian. Until recently,
you could not expect him to say too many nice things about Australian
pork. Many a family might have knocked up some Aussie backyard prosciutto
and salami but few would have been pleased with the results.
But seventh-generation smallgoods artisan Pino Tomini Foresti, from
Pino's Meats in Kogarah, has changed his tune since he began using Bangalow
Sweet Pork.
"There are lots of things I can do with Bangalow Sweet Pork that
I couldn't do with other pork," he says. "It made me go back
into doing the things I wanted to do after battling for 27 years."
As well as selling the fresh pork, he makes stunning salami, prosciutto,
coppa, pancetta and hams by hand.
"I don't even need to use preservative in my sausages and you can
taste the difference."
However, he says, buyers needs to be educated.
"They think lard is lard. The amount of fat in the pork means a lot to
the flavour. A lot of people want their pork to be lean, but then you can't
taste it. It's better to cook with fat then take it off if you don't want to
eat it."
For him, the best proof for Bangalow Sweet Pork is in the eating. "I
had my brother from Italy here about 18 months ago and had some of the
pork chops on the barbecue. He tasted it and said 'do you know, this
is better than the pork in Italy?' I looked at him and said, 'I've been
waiting for you to say that'."
Chef Steve Manfredi is also a fan of the Bangalow Babe. "The fact
that it's hormone-free makes it different. I like to know that it's been
raised properly, but" - he laughs - "what breeds are used and
what they eat are trade secrets."
He's blunt about other types of pork: "I'd have no problem eating
lean pork if it had flavour, but I'm interested in how it tastes."
Days
of swine and roses
Pork is the world's most popular meat. Production has doubled in the
past 25 years and it accounts for more than 40 per cent of total meat
consumption.
Its Australian market share lags far behind that of European countries
such as Italy, where it is a longstanding staple, used in the likes of
prosciutto and salami. Until recently, Australians ate just eight kilograms
of pork each a year - and 37kg of beef.
In the past 18 months, however, pork consumption has increased by more
than 20 per cent; just over one in five dishes served contains fresh
pork, putting it on a par with chicken, while fresh beef features in
one in three. We now eat more pork than lamb, the price of which has
rocketed. Pork contributes about $2.5 billion to the domestic economy.
This year, the Federal Government approved 12 additional pork importers.
Australian Pork Ltd is fighting the government over what it sees as lax
quarantine regulations - it claims the risk of exposure to new diseases
is too high.
Over the past decade, imports have triggered profound structural change
and consolidation in the local pork industry, with smaller producers
bowing out and overseas investors moving in to create larger companies.
The focus has shifted from the domestic market to export.
But in the midst of the big boys taking over, there are a growing number
of niche producers preferring to concentrate on quality, flavour and
kinder, hormone-free production techniques. Tallabung Pork, the newest
of the newcomers, plans to produce free-range pigs - a challenge for
an animal prone to sunburn.
Drought has had a big impact on pork production, pushing up feed prices,
and many see further troubled times ahead. Industry experts predict that
while herd sizes will increase next year, processing levels will fall
slightly.
Producers pay a slaughter levy of $2.435 on every pig - Joe Byrne laughs
that only a bureaucrat would arrive at a figure containing half a cent
- to fund APL, which spends $1.65 cents on marketing, 70 cents on research
and development and the remainder goes to chemical monitoring. APL is
pushing for the government to extend the levy to importers.
Three months ago, APL launched a new TV advertising campaign, entitled "Hello!
Life's juicer with pork". Critics see it as an attempt to overcome
the problems created by the emphasis on lean pork. Few in the quality
end of the market appreciate APL's efforts.
Where
to get it
Bangalow Sweet Pork is available from:BBQs and Roasts, 169 Annangrove
Road, Annangrove, 9679 0430
Castlecrag Meats, 93 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag, 9958 4274
East Blaxland Butchery 45 Old Bathurst Road, East Blaxland, 4739 1395
Pino's Butchery, 45 President Avenue, Kogarah, 9587 4818
Quants Quality Meats 17 Lindfield Avenue, Lindfield, 9416 1401
Terrey Hills Meat Boutique, 2 Booalie Road, Terrey Hills, 9450 1638
The Organic Meat & Poultry Shop, Randwick Plaza, 130 Belmore Road,
Randwick, 5573 0488
The Sausage Specialist, The Centre, Starkey Street, Forestville, 9451
6840
TJ's Quality Meats, 319 Darling Street, Balmain, 9810 2911
Quality Meat Mart Shop 12 Beach Street, Woolgoolga, 6654 2646
Trevor Mead Quality Meat, 27 Jonson Street, Byron Bay, 6685 6583