Pork of Yore
Gary MacDonell and Ida Vaillancourt
1632 Scotch Bush Rd.
RR2 Douglas, ON K0J 1S0
PH: 613.649.0076
Email: heritagepork@porkofyore.com
Website: www.porkofyore.com

What they Sell: Pasture-raised, chemical/hormone-free, heritage pork products. By the side/whole - $5/lb, individual cuts for the grill, smoked pork products and more (for prices and cuts see website for details)
Where: at the Carp Farmer’s Market (Special Christmas Market, December 4 & 5), through the Ottawa Valley Food Coop (www.ottawavalleyfood.org), farmgate sales by phone or email (contact info above), LK Catering (Bowmanville)

In the 1920’s it used to be that every little farm had a pig or two rooting around and chances were it could have been a Tamworth pig. These days, the numbers of registered Tamworths in Canada are so low that they are listed by Rare Breeds Canada as a ‘critically’ rare breed. ‘Critical’ is a label applied where only 1 to 35 breeding animals are registered domestically.

It is the efforts of people like Ida Vaillancourt and her husband Gary MacDonell that are helping to raise the numbers of some of our heritage breeds. Besides their Tamworth sows, they also keep an English Large Black boar, a Berkshire boar, and a flock of Chantecler chickens. Heritage breeds such as these are breeds of domesticated animals that historically were suited to, or selected for, the conditions and climate settlers were faced with in Canada.

Ida and Gary own a 112-acre farm west of Renfrew in an area that used to be known as ‘Scotch Bush’ due to the (then) high proportion of Scottish settlers. The couple, which met in 1994, lived for 12 years on a ranch in Alberta where they raised registered Morgan horses. Gary worked as a teacher and Ida had her own bookkeeping business. After many years spent living in open rangeland, tired of the wind and dust, and perhaps homesick for some trees, they sold the ranch, bought their current farm (sight-unseen!), packed up their horses and moved back to Ontario only two years ago. After some discussion and research into what livestock might be suited for their rocky, juniper-clad land, they settled on Tamworth pigs (as well as the Morgan horses which they still breed).

Imagine what it is to be a pig. Domesticated pigs descend from forest animals. They like to roam and root around in the soil foraging for food. This sort of foraging adds minerals and additional protein (worms and grubs) to their diet. Pigs can’t sweat, so the ability to cool themselves by lying in mud, or retiring to a shady spot, is an important consideration in habitat creation. Movement and sunlight (essential to providing vitamin D, and the development of strong bones) are also important to maintaining the health of any animal (or human). Pork of Yore pigs enjoy open pastures and scrub in which to freely root around, laze in the sun, wallow, find shelter, scratch and amuse themselves. This year the sows on the farm spent the summer in a juniper-covered field. They take pleasure in eating juniper berries and, in time, the pigs will have played an important role in ‘subduing’ the juniper. In September, the sows farrowed, amidst the scrub, the latest round of piglets. Common farrowing problems such as sows squashing piglets, or lacking maternal instincts, has not been an issue. Ida says that Tamworth sows with sound genes and provided with basic shelter (they have 3 sided lean-tos), lots of bedding with which they are able to ‘nest’, and the space to choose their own place to farrow, will do well outside year round. Because of the limited number of registered breeding animals of many heritage breeds in Canada, including the Tamworth pig, developing a robust gene pool within Canada takes time, effort, money and a great deal of thought. To this end, Ida and another Tamworth breeder have been trying for 9 months to sort through myriad regulations (created for the industrial pork system) to find a way to import a number of Tamworths from England in order to enlarge the gene pool in Canada. For the time being, she breeds her sows to an English Large Black boar. The cross produces top quality meat pigs. Their ‘Cadillac meat’, as Ida calls it, is characterized by beautifully marbled, succulent,‘fresh, sweet-tasting pork’.

As farming has increasingly industrialized in the last 60 years, we have simultaneously seen a dramatic reduction in the diversity of breeds that are now kept on farms for meat production. Much like the reduced selection of apple, tomato, potato, etc., the breeds from whence the meat on our supermarket shelves comes is extremely limited. It seems that industry has increasingly chosen breeds, and selected blood lines, for their ability to transform the least amount of feed into the most meat in as little time as possible. Taste, nutrition, and variety - not to mention the animal’s quality of life- are (at best) secondary considerations. This philosophy is almost reversed at Pork of Yore where the strategy is to not only give the pigs good genes, but also the environment, the sustenance (local grains, soymeal, and alfalfa top up their foraging), and the time necessary to develop naturally, and comfortably. As a result, their pork takes 3 times longer to produce than the pork industry standard. With each pig being raised from ‘conception to consumer’, it is, as Ida puts it, truly ‘Slow Food’. Visit them at the Special Christmas Carp Market Dec. 4 and 5th to pick up a tortiere or some of Pork of Yore’s other delicacies!

Recipe:
Pulled BBQ Pork on a Bun

BBQ Rub
¼ c. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. coarsely ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp.thyme
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. dry mustard
1 Tbsp. hot smoked paprika

(makes @ ¾ c. of rub (store unused portion in freezer in sealed container for up to 2 months)

Rub 1/4c BBQ rub all over shoulder roast, wrap tightly in foil and cook very slowly in oven @ 250F to 275F for 4 hours.

Turn on grill and place a smoker box under grill. Turn off all but one burner and turn to medium low. Remove foil and place roast on grill on the turned off side of the grill. Leave lid closed and cook for 2-3 hours until internal temp. is 170 F. Baste pork for the last 2 hours with Carolinian BBQ sauce. Place pulled pork on soft rolls and douse with Carolinian BBQ sauce.

Carolinian BBQ Sauce
1 c. apple cider vinegar
¼ c. ketchup
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. dry mustard
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. chili flakes

Whisk together in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Cool.