What Is A Mangalitsa Pig

Mangalitsa meat is considered among the tastiest pork in the world.

What is a mangalitsa pig. In hungary this race was bred for the table of the emperor of the austro hungarian empire at the beginning of the 20th century. The mangalica also mangalitsa or mangalitza is a hungarian breed of domestic pig. The meat of the mangalitsa pig is reddish unlike the other white meat that americans are accustomed to highly marbled with creamy white fat and is high in omega 3 fatty acids and natural antioxidants. Mangalitsa pig is a breed of domestic pig native to hungary.

They are a hungarian heritage breed known for their docile nature and delicious pork. A heritage breed lard pig the mangalitsa was developed in hungary from hardy pigs of hungarian and serbian decent in the early 1800s. Mangalitsa also known as a mangalica pig or mangalitza pig is a hungarian breed of pig with a wooly coat. The mangalitsa pig has curly hair that we typically describe as similar to a poodle.

The animal pictured above goes by the name mangalitsa or sometimes mangalica or mangalitza and it is in fact a pig. Well technically the mangalitsa is all pig but this wooly coated critter is unique enough in appearance and behavior to have earned itself the nickname sheep pig and a reputation for suspiciously dog like behavior. It was developed in the mid 19th century by crossbreeding hungarian breeds from nagyszalonta and bakony with the european wild boar and the serbian šumadija breed. It has its origins in the crosses of the primitive race sumadia of the mediterranean trunk trunk to which the iberian pig also belongs with the races szalontai and bakonyi typical semi wild races of the carpathians.

Its name means hog with a lot of lard and is pronounced mahn ga leets ah. Studies show that pigs are actually more intelligent than dogs. The mangalitsa is classified as an extreme lard type pig breed which unlike meat type pig breeds produces a very fat and marbled meat. They are the only race left that has a wooly coat said wilhelm kohl owner of kohl farms in haslett michigan.

Not only does the mangalica pig have a lot of lard it has a lot of curly hair which makes it resemble a sheep. Since moving to colorado our 12 year old daughter has started raising mangalitsa pigs. Though the unique breed looks like it may share ancestry with sheep the mangalitsa is pure pig. The mangalica pig is a breed of domestic pig form hungary.

But it s one wooly porker. It was developed in the mid nineteenth century. Nown variously as the mangalitsa or mangalica this old world breed pig is indigenous to hungary. The fleece can be black or red but is most commonly blond.