Mangalitsa
Encyclopedia
Mangalitsa Mangalitza (UK spelling) or Mangalica (original Hungarian spelling) is a name for three breeds of pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

 grown especially in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 and the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

 known also as a curly-hair hog. It belongs to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an unimproved lard
Lard
Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...

-type breeds (as well as Iberian Black
Black Iberian Pig
The Black Iberian pig, also known in Portugal as Alentejano, is a breed, Mediterraneus, of the domestic pig that is indigenous to the Mediterranean area...

and Alentejana pigs) that are descended directly from wild boar populations. The Mangalitsa pig is unusual as it grows a hairy 'fleece', akin to that of a sheep. The only other pig breed noted for having a long coat is the now extinct Lincolnshire Curly Coat of England
Lincolnshire curly-coated pig
The Lincolnshire curly-coated pig, also known as the Baston Pig or simply as the Lincolnshire Curly Coat, was an old breed of domestic pig from the United Kingdom...

. The Mangalitsa was formerly bred as a lard
Lard
Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...

 pig, and animals were large and round. Because of the drop in demand for lard, the breed's popularity has declined and it is now regarded as a "rare breed
Rare breed (agriculture)
A rare breed is defined as a breed of livestock or poultry that is not common in modern agriculture, though it may have been in the past. Various national and international organizations, such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy or the Rare Breeds...

".

Name

Serbian language
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....

 reformer Vuk Stefanović Karadžić
Vuk Stefanovic Karadžic
Vuk Stefanović Karadžić was a Serbian philolog and linguist, the major reformer of the Serbian language, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore. He was the author of the first Serbian dictionary...

 gave the breed its name Mangalica, which describes it as a 'hog with a lot of lard'.

It is referred to as the "Mangalitza" in the United Kingdom and the "Mangalitsa" in the United States.

History

The blonde Mangalitsa was developed from older hardy types of Hungarian pig (Bakonyi and Szalontai) crossed with the Šumadija
Šumadija
Šumadija is a geographical region in Serbia. The area is heavily covered with forests, hence the name...

breed of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

n origin (1833) (and later others like Alföldi or Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n Šiška and Syrmien). The development took place in Hungary in the early 19th century. The new quick-growing "fat-type" hog did not require any special care, so became very popular in Hungary. In 1927 the National Society of Fat-Type Hog Breeders (Mangalicatenyésztők Országos Egyesülete) was established, with the objective of improving the breed. Mangalitsa was the most prominent swine breed in the region until 1950 (there were 30,000 of them in Hungary in 1943). Since then the popularity as well as the population of Mangalitsa have been decreasing, with the rising availability of food from further away and refrigeration
Refrigerator
A refrigerator is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room...

. Nowadays, the keeping of Mangalicas has become a popular hobby. There are currently slightly over 7000 Mangalitsa sows in Hungary, producing cca. 60000 porkers a year.

In March 2006, 17 Mangalitza were imported from Austria into the UK. These are registered with the British Pig Association (BPA) and the pedigrees are being maintained on the BPA Mangalitza Herd Book. Three of the animals are at Tropical Wings zoo in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

.

The Swallow-bellied Mangalitsa breed was produced by crossing the blonde Mangalitza and the Black(which has gone extinct).

In 2007, Wooly Pigs, an American company, imported a herd of 24 Swallow-belly Mangalitsa gilts and boars to the USA.

Husbandry

The Mangalitsa produces too little lean meat so it has been gradually replaced by modern domestic breeds. It is usually fed with a mix of wild pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...

, supplemented with potatoes and pumpkins produced on the farm.

The primary product made from this pig is sausage
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...

, usually packed in the pig's duodenum
Duodenum
The duodenum is the first section of the small intestine in most higher vertebrates, including mammals, reptiles, and birds. In fish, the divisions of the small intestine are not as clear and the terms anterior intestine or proximal intestine may be used instead of duodenum...

. The minced meat is seasoned with salt, pepper
Piper (genus)
Piper, the pepper plants or pepper vines , are an economically and ecologically important genus in the family Piperaceae...

, sweet paprika
Paprika
Paprika is a spice made from the grinding of dried fruits of Capsicum annuum . In many European languages, the word paprika refers to bell peppers themselves. The seasoning is used in many cuisines to add color and flavor to dishes. Paprika can range from mild to hot...

, and other spices. It is then eaten in slices with pickled vegetables. The pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....

 is also served braised with sauerkraut
Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut , directly translated from German: "sour cabbage", is finely shredded cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid...

, potatoes, and stuffed peppers as a side dish. Farmers also produce smoked hams. The fresh meat tastes strong and juicy; the suckling pigs are much preferred for their good fresh meat qualities.

In the UK, the breed is kept free-range, fed on standard Sow and Weaner Pellets. The higher quality and protein levels of this food results in a slightly larger stockier pig.

In Hungary, most Mangalitsa pigs are raised semi-intensively or intensively.

Mangalitzas will happily rear their young (who are born stripes like wild boars) in outside arks all year round without the need for additional heat and light.

Killing weight (for meat production) is generally achieved beyond 12 months of age, much longer and the additional fat gained becomes too excessive for the UK market.

Meat from Mangalitsa can be easily found in Hungary, as Hungarian farmers produce about 60.000 animals each year.

Breeds

There are three Mangalitsa breeds: Blonde, Swallow-bellied and Red. They all have the same behavior; the only difference is the colour. The Blonde Mangalitsa is blonde, the Swallow-bellied (originally produced by crossing the Blonde Mangalitsa with the extinct Black Mangalitsa) has a blonde belly and feet with a black body, and the red (produced by crossing the Blonde Mangalitsa with the Szalonta breed) is ginger.
Other breeds (black, wolf, and baris) have died out as pure-bred forms, though their reconstruction from selective breeding of mixed varieties is being debated in Hungary.

External links

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