"People's first instinct is that it's the genetics that make it taste so good. And that's partly true, since the marbling, the intramuscular fat, hasn't been bred out. However, the taste mostly comes from the way we raise them: slowly, outdoors, with great respect. They're outside getting exercise, getting minerals from the soil, getting fresh air and clean water, and they live without stress. All that combines for flavor."
Check out this magazine article about this amazing tasting pig.
And here is a blog about how wonderful this pig tastes:
I received this amazing guinea hog from Gra Moore. He raises these pigs in Florence, and feeds them heirloom corn, hey, acorns, and other vegetables off his farm. This pig was full size and weighed 80 pounds dressed.
At the first glance it looks normal. Then you look at the jowls, which were huge for this size of a pig. When I made the first cut and removed the head I realized what the guinea hog was all about. Fat, glorious thick fat. I was stuned that a pig this small could have so much fat.
When I made the second cut and removed the shoulders I was even more blown away. The meat was deep red and the loins were marbled with more fat. The loins are the size of a domestic lamb. The fat that encased the loins is 2 inches thick and super firm. Gra knows how to raise a pig that makes a chef smile.
This is the shoulder split in half with my boning knife next to it. My knife is currently 8 inches long.
The collars were removed from the shoulder and the fat back was trimmed away. The red color bloomed even more as it sat. This is going to be the smallest coppa I’ve ever done.
The loins were split into 6 potions which will be cooked sous vide and finished on the wood grill. The bellies will be cured and smoked. The fat back will become lardo. The hams will be come the smallest and quickest cured hams ever ( my guess 7 months). I will keep you posted with the finished results from this project. Stay tuned!
http://therealdeihlchef.com/?p=177
And another blog:
Guinea Hog Pork Chops
Tonight we tried some Guinea hog pork chops for the first time. I dredged them with seasoned flour, pan-fried them in home-rendered lard, and served them with potatoes, pan gravy, and asparagus.
The meat, as expected, was excellent. The real surprise, though, was what an enormous difference it made to fry the chops in lard instead of our usual olive oil. The chops were tender inside with a delicious crispy surface, and even after I fried 3 pan-fulls of chops in succession, there was absolutely no scorching or sticking to the pan, which made it easy to make delicious pan gravy in a matter of moments.
Now that I've tried it, I would definitely recommend frying in lard!
Here's what the chops looked like before they were cooked:
These chops were from
a hogthat was very obese. I'm showing this photo as a reminder to people: Don't overfeed your Guinea hogs! They are easy keepers and gain weight very easily. If you feed more than is necessary, you're not making more meat, you're just making more fat. I like a bit of marbling in my meat, but that marbling doesn't need to be in big 2.5" wide swaths like in that bottom right chop.
http://keepingthefarm.blogspot.com/2011/03/guinea-hog-pork-chops.html