45. PORK is the flesh of slaughtered swine used as food. It is believed
to be more indigestible than other meats, but if it is obtained from a
young and properly fed animal, it is not only digestible, but highly
appetizing, and, when eaten occasionally, it is very wholesome.
The age of the animal from which pork is cut can be determined by the
thickness of the skin; the older the animal, the thicker the skin. To be
of the best kind, pork should have pink, not red, flesh composed of
fine-grained tissues, and its fat, which, in a well-fattened animal,
equals about one-eighth of the entire weight, should be white and firm.
Although all cuts of pork contain some fat, the proportion should not be
too great, or the pieces will not contain as much lean as they should.
However, the large amount of fat contained in pork makes its food value
higher than that of other meats, unless they are excessively fat, and
consequently difficult of digestion.
46. One of the chief advantages of pork is that about nine-tenths of
the entire dressed animal may be preserved by curing and smoking.
Originally, these processes required a period of 2 to 3 months for their
completion, but they have gradually been shortened until now only a few
days are required for the work. Pork cured and smoked by the new
methods, however, does not possess such excellent flavor and such good
keeping qualities as that so treated by the longer process. Any one who
has the right storage facilities to care for the meat properly will find
it much more economical to purchase a whole carcass or a part of one and
then salt, smoke, or pickle the various pieces that can be treated in
this way than to purchase this meat cut by cut as it is needed
or desired.