PIG/PORK

August 1, 2017

To the pig falls the dubious distinction of being the most consumed meat in the world. Spry-Marques (formerly of the McDonald Inst. for Archaeological Research, Cambridge Univ.), who studies animal remains at ancient human hunting sites, reveals that wild boar was popular with our Paleolithic ancestors and examines why pork continues to be in such demand today. The book covers pig evolution and domestication, the mass production of pork, nonfood uses of the animal, cultural and religious issues, and cuisine. Each chapter concludes with several pork recipes (including some using the testes and uterus). While pork is an important part of many culinary traditions, the author points out that the current system of pork production poses "a massive environmental problem" for the planet in terms of pollution and sustaining the pig's soy-based diet. She concludes by questioning whether it is ethical to eat and use this intelligent, social animal, especially given the high environmental cost. VERDICT This informative and original approach to the pig is a welcome addition. For those curious about where their food comes from and how it's raised.--Cynthia Lee Knight, Hunterdon Cty. Historical Soc., Flemington, NJ

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 15, 2017
A Spanish zooarchaeologist examines all things porcine in this enjoyable truffle of a book."I didn't know you liked pigs, Pia," a friend said to Spry-Marques upon learning that she was writing a book about them. "Neither did I, I guess, but I felt I wanted to find out more about the animals that had featured so prominently on my plate as a child, but with which I had little contact." Her investigation opens with the many thousands of years of domestication and experimentation that have gone into the transformation from wild boar to domestic pig, and they move on to the long history of how humans have made use of just about every part of the animal. Pigs have been monoculturized, so to speak, but they began with a "multi-genus cast," with some living relatives still. These include the Philippine warty pig, "which has quite funky hair and would have been the envy of all those hair-obsessed people in the 1980s," writes the author with characteristic breeziness. As the narrative progresses, it becomes ever more of a grab bag, very nearly an almanac of all things piggy: pigs don't really sweat and certainly don't "sweat like a pig," as the saying has it, and they don't really suffer from skin cancer, though they're put to work in medical experiments on that and other human maladies. Furthermore, they don't need to be burned to a crisp in order to remove pathogens from their flesh; Spry-Marques looks at the varying regimes of antibiotics and food supplements that pigs are fed around the world, an exposition that may lead sensitive eaters to save their pork binges for trips to the European Union. There are some appealing recipes for home cooks, too, including concoctions like beer-marinated pork chops and Croatian wild boar and red wine stew. Just about all you ever wanted to know about the Suidae--including reasons for not eating them, as the author concludes. For cooks and animal lovers alike.

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