In cutting up pork, you have the spare-rib, shoulder, griskin or
chine, the loin, middlings and leg; the head, feet, heart and
liver. On the spare-rib and chine there is but little meat, and
the pieces called middlings consist almost entirely of fat. The
best parts are the loin, and the leg or hind-quarter. Hogs make
the best pork when from two and a half to four years old. They
should be kept up and fed with corn at least six weeks before they
are killed, or their flesh will acquire a disagreeable taste from
the trash and offal which they eat when running at large. The
Portuguese pork, which is fed on chestnuts, is perhaps the finest
in the world.
If the meat is young, the lean will break on being pinched, and
the skin will dent by nipping it with the fingers; the fat will be
white, soft, and pulpy. If the skin or rind is rough, and cannot
he nipped, it is old.
Hams that have short shank-bones, are generally preferred. If you
put a knife under the bone of a ham, and it comes out clean, the
meat is good; but quite the contrary if the knife appears smeared
and slimy. In good bacon the fat is white, and the lean sticks
close to the bone; if it is streaked with yellow, the meat is
rusty, and unfit to eat.
Pork in every form should be thoroughly cooked. If the least
under-done, it is disgusting and unwholesome.