It pays to be porky

By Scott Marley

Gone are the days when a classy pork dish meant some gammon with a ring of pineapple on top - these days pork is a more sophisticated dish which is cooked in different styles from around the world. Pork has the advantage of being healthy - it's full of iron and protein and is a low fat choice. It is also a versatile meat. It goes well with many different flavours and there are several cuts you can combine with other interesting ingredients to make either a good old British meal or something more exotic. And although pork fillets were once a real luxury 10 or 15 years ago - the price has remained the same while beef and lamb has soared so they are now very good value for money. Michelin star chef Phil Vickery, a regular on Ready, Steady Cook and This Morning, is such a fan he has produced some recipes for British Meat. In his booklet Getting Saucy With Pork, he introduces new flavours and sauces to pork that promise fantastic results, as well as more traditional recipes from closer to home. "I love cooking pork and got thoroughly fed up with going to restaurants and not seeing it on the menu. "And pork farmers and producers were having such a hard time that I decided I would do my bit to promote it." Vickery says the popularity of pork has only recently started to pick up since its hey day in the 60s. "Forty years ago the popularity of pork began to wane because of health worries about parasites and it was seen as a dirty meat. And despite the fact it has been clean for a good 20 years, the stigma stuck for a long time. "It was still untrendy in the 80s with the advent of nouvelle cuisine, partly because people were worried it was fatty and partly because it could not be cooked as quickly as beef. "And through years of being ignored, nobody knew how to cook it and people were worried about it turning dry, stringy and tough. "Only recently supermarkets used to be filled with tasteless meat from the continent. "But thankfully around three years ago it started to pick up again and now there is a growing range of different British pig breeds on offer which are absolutely delicious." Vickery is full of the joys of his favourite meat. "Pork is the cheapest meat by far - pound for pound, a fillet is less than half the price of fillet beef. "And it's a great vehicle for almost any flavour. Herbs, spices, citrus, vinegar - you name it - it all goes delightfully with pork. "Lean pork has less fat per pound than cottage cheese and it is extremely quick and easy to cook." :: The recipe booklet Getting Saucy With Pork is available free by calling (01908) 609821, or by logging on to the British Meat website on www.meatmatters.com.

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