Food & Drink

Slice of hog heaven

Rich, flavorful Berkshire pork comes to market from pampered beginnings at Peach Creek Farm

By Ricardo Gándara
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Berkshire pork. This heirloom version of the "other" red meat, veined with pale marbling, is touted as more flavorful, juicy and tender than regular pork. Expensive, too (1-inch pork chops are $5.25 a pound; smoked bacon is $5 a pound), and not readily available at your neighborhood supermarket.

To buy Berkshire pork, you'll need to visit the downtown Austin Farmer's Market at Republic Square some Saturday morning. Look for James and Rose Page and their makeshift fridge on wheels full of ham, ham hocks, shoulder roasts, pork loins, ground pork, spare ribs, Italian and German sausage.

The meat is from their herd of pampered, purebred Berkshire hogs — an old breed that originated in England, is coveted in Japan and is showing up in upscale restaurants across the country.

"It's meaty, a lot of flavor, not too lean, . . . easier to cook and some of the best pork you'll ever taste," says David Gadbois, a regular customer. "The pork chops are outstanding."

The Pages' 26-acre, tree-studded Peach Creek Farm — south of Bastrop in a farming community called Rosanky — is home to five cows; one bull; three horses; 25 French guinea chicks; assorted ducks; chickens and geese; three Jack Russell terriers named Esmerelda, Hook and Deuce who chase everything; nine cats (they think) including Hisser and Shark Bait, who prefer the quiet life indoors; and four pot-bellied pigs.

But the pride of the farm is their drove (herd) of 55 free-range Berkshire hogs: a boar, five sows and their many offspring. The black porkers are housed in pens in a large, post oak covered area, with plenty of room to run, wallow in mud and root in the soil for loose feed, grubs and plants. They seem happy doing the things that pigs do best: lounging around and waiting for their next feeding. They don't even smell that bad.

Married for 32 years, the Pages have only been at this farming thing for the past three years, but they're a good team. James Page works as a computer software designer in Phoenix four days a week, but generally runs the farm, fixes fences and is slowly learning the business of raising hogs. Rose Page is a fulltime hand, caring for all the animals.

It's a match made in hog heaven.

Though they also sell beef and vegetables using sustainable agriculture practices, their specialty is Berkshire pork. The meat is darker than supermarket pork and marbled with fat. Its fans compare it to quality aged beef.

"The jowl bacon is to die for," says Jane Sheaffer, a regular customer of the Pages at the downtown Saturday market.

At Peach Creek, the Pages believe their kinder and gentler way of life produces meat that tastes better than what's at the grocery store. Their pigs enjoy two-a-day feeding frenzies and plenty of fresh water.

"We don't yell at them," says James Page. "They like to be scratched behind the ears."

Everything starts with the couple's philosophy of doing what the land dictates and following sustainable farming principles. They recycle just about everything. (Feed sacks are collected by a neighbor who stuffs them with summer weeds to feed her cattle during the winter months.)

The recent drought has been hard on farmers. Pasture grazing is at a premium. The Pages practice intensive grazing; that is, they fence off a good portion of land to keep their cattle confined to a smaller grazing area. All the while, cattle are fertilizing the land. When the grass is almost chewed to the ground, they move the cattle elsewhere, allowing the grazed section to replenish itself. The manure left behind speeds the regrowth of grass.

In this domain, the hogs are at the top of the food chain, and Max the boar is king. Max is a registered Berkshire, bought at an auction in Oklahoma along with a sow. Later they bought more sows, and Max did his job. The couple plan to keep the herd small because the size is manageable.

James Page says he's learning pig farming as he goes. "It's really a simplicity method. I try to get the most effect for the least effort. I apply it to everything," he says.

His lessons so far? Don't introduce a new hog into the group unless it's a sow. Try to space out new litters every six weeks. Give them a lot of water for proper digestion, and nutritious food. His hogs eat a dry, cornmeal-like feed containing corn, soy and vitamins.

Page waits until a hog is 7 to 8 months old and 300 pounds to 350 pounds versus traditional hog farming that sends pigs to market at six months.

Every week, the Pages take their hogs to the LaGrange Smokehouse for processing. They get there Sunday, and the animals are slaughtered Monday.

"We take them a day early to get the hogs to settle down from the trip. A stressed hog means tougher meat," says James Page. By Thursday, the pork is butchered, neatly wrapped and frozen. Some of it is specially cut by customer request.

The Pages have fresh meat every week. "Where else can you get fresh pork that was walking around earlier in the week?" asks James Page.

In addition to the downtown market on Saturday, the Pages also sell at the Thursday Market at Plaza Saltillo in East Austin and the Bastrop Farmers Market on Friday. Their meat is not available at grocery stores.

rgandara@statesman.com; 445-3632

Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onion Hoagie
1 pound Peach Creek Farm Italian sausage, about 6 links
5-6 cloves of sliced garlic
1/2 cup fresh basil, oregano, thyme or other fresh herbs, finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1 each of green, yellow and red peppers, cut in strips
1 onion, cut in strips
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
12 hoagie rolls or small French baguettes sliced halfway to form a pocket for the sausage and vegetables

Place sausage in a skillet; cover with water and about half the herbs and garlic. Poach sausage over medium heat, turning occasionally, until liquid cooks away. Allow the sausage to brown evenly on all sides in the pan and remove to a plate. Add peppers, onions and olive oil and sauté over medium to high heat. You might have to increase heat to keep vegetables from steam cooking. Reduce the heat and add the rest of the herbs and vinegar. Slice the sausage lengthwise and return to the pan. Heat the sausage and serve hot on the hoagie rolls topped with the peppers and onions.

— Rose Page, Peach Creek Farm

English-style pork pies
1 lb. finely cubed raw pork shoulder or fresh ham. Do not substitute ground pork.
1 cooking apple, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 hard-boiled egg, shelled and finely chopped
1 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 Tbsp. water for glazing

Use your favorite pie crust recipe to make double crusts for a muffin tin. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; grease each cup of muffin tin. Mix all the ingredients, except the pie crust and egg yolk, in a bowl. Divide the pastry dough in quarters. Three quarters will be used for the bottom crusts and the remaining quarter is used to make the tops.

Roll out the pastry and cut 12 four-inch diameter circles and line each muffin tin, gently pressing the pastry along the bottom and sides. There should be just enough pastry to drape over the tin edge about 1/8 inch.

Spoon uncooked meat filling into the pastry-lined tin. Gently press the filling into the tin to remove air pockets. Roll out the remaining dough, cut 12 circles of 2 1/2-inch diameter and place over filling.

Using a pastry brush, coat the surface of the pastry lid and the edge of the bottom crust with the egg yolk wash. Roll the bottom crust lip over the edges of the top crust and seal the whole edge by crimping with a fork. Cut a steam vent in the center of the pie. Bake pies for 45 minutes. While the pies are hot from the oven, carefully work a knife around the edge of the pies and remove hot pies from the muffin tin. Eat cold or warm.