Arnold Zwicky's Blog

After the rumpless tufted araucana, another entertainingly named (and odd-looking) creature from from the Beautiful Farmyard cards: the swallow-bellied mangalitsa, a furry pig. From Wikipedia:

Mangalitsa (US spelling), Mangalitza (UK spelling) or Mangalica (original Hungarian spelling) is a name for three breeds of pig bred especially in Hungary known also as a curly-hair hog. It belongs to European unimproved lard-type breeds (as well as Iberian Black and Alentejana pigs) that are descended directly from wild boar populations. The Mangalitsa pig is unusual as it grows a hairy ‘fleece’, akin to that of a sheep. The only other pig breed noted for having a long coat is the now extinct Lincolnshire Curly Coat of England. The Mangalitsa was formerly bred as a lard pig, and animals were large and round. Because of the drop in demand for lard, the breed’s popularity has declined and it is now regarded as a “rare breed”.

… There are three Mangalitsa breeds: Blonde, Swallow-bellied, and Red. They all have the same behavior; the only difference is the colour. The Blonde Mangalitsa is blonde, the Swallow-bellied (originally produced by crossing the Blonde Mangalitsa with the extinct Black Mangalitsa) has a blonde belly and feet with a black body, and the red (produced by crossing the Blonde Mangalitsa with the Szalonta breed) is ginger.

Two mangalitsas, blonde and swallow-bellied:

(#1)

(#2)

The swallow-bellied mangalitsa is so called because, like swallows, it’s dark on top and light (usually white) underneath. I don’t know the etymology of margalica in Hungarian.

More from Wikipedia:

The primary product made from this pig is sausage, usually packed in the pig’s duodenum. The minced meat is seasoned with salt, pepper, sweet paprika, and other spices. It is then eaten in slices with pickled vegetables. The pork is also served braised with sauerkraut, potatoes, and stuffed peppers as a side dish. Farmers also produce smoked hams. The fresh meat tastes strong and juicy; the suckling pigs are much preferred for their good fresh meat qualities.

This entry was posted on October 2, 2013 at 5:54 am and is filed under Language and animals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.