Difficult to get a feel for the breed when there are only 50 or so in the country. So it was that we took ourselves off for a weekend in the land of Mangel's forefathers. In a programme devised to educate (and exhaust) us, the President of the Austrian Mangalitza Society (185 members) introduced us to a selection of 7 breeders spread across the country's varied terrain.
In two days and over 1100 km we saw Mangalitzas on flat plains and almost vertical hillsides, in small pens and wide open fields; from the traditional Austri
an Swallowbelly, like Mangel, to the Blondes and Reds originating in Hungary. Big ones, baby ones, thin ones, fat ones, clean and dirty, charming and awe-inspiring. Good examples and not so good examples, pure bred and dubious (Duroc) parentage. We could not have learned more had we stayed two weeks rather than two days. Our hosts were generous with their time, their experience and their hospitality.
an Swallowbelly, like Mangel, to the Blondes and Reds originating in Hungary. Big ones, baby ones, thin ones, fat ones, clean and dirty, charming and awe-inspiring. Good examples and not so good examples, pure bred and dubious (Duroc) parentage. We could not have learned more had we stayed two weeks rather than two days. Our hosts were generous with their time, their experience and their hospitality.We saw and tasted a vast array of Mangalitza products - airdried, smoked and unsmoked salamis, schnitzels, soups, souffle schmalz, bacon and hams ga
lore, white Lardo, strudel, pates and more: all eaten with gusto and slices of traditional rye bread. Every breeder produces his own products and each was keen that we sample them all. We now have a very good idea of what Mangalitza looks and tastes like in - all its varieties!
lore, white Lardo, strudel, pates and more: all eaten with gusto and slices of traditional rye bread. Every breeder produces his own products and each was keen that we sample them all. We now have a very good idea of what Mangalitza looks and tastes like in - all its varieties!In all it was a fascinating insight into this charming breed. Lincolnshire Curly Coat genes were clearly evident in many of the breed lines; certainly the friendliness for which the Curly Coat was known is a trait that has carried through. That the pigs were equally happy on the flat, baked plains as the steep hillsides at 2000 m+ or the dense woodlands around Vienna bears testimony to 
their versatility.
their versatility.We came away more than impressed; our education (and other parts) more rounded; our little suitcase weighed down with vacuum wrapped samples of all sorts of parts of pig....... our minds filled to bursting with ideas for the future............
And when we got home and looked at our chaps we thought "As good as any of the best we have seen" --- and then we tucked them up for the night.
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