Pork is versatile and we eat a lot of it. Whether it’s the bacon on your burger, an artisanal charcuterie board, a pork-filled Chinese dumpling, or the crispy crackling on a perfect piece of tender pork belly, pig is popular. According to Technomic’s latest MenuMonitor survey, the incidence of pork items on Canadian menus jumped 8.2 per cent in 2016, up 8.6 per cent in entrées such as pork belly, cutlets and spareribs, and 5.9 per cent in starters, including bacon and chorizo. But the real story, says Technomic’s Aaron Jourden is in casual and fast-casual restaurants, where pork menu items are up 9.2 and 28.5 per cent respectively. “The most recent quarter shows that pork ingredients are much more common on lunch and dinner menus compared to breakfast,” he says, pointing to big jumps in Mexican restaurants (42.1 per cent) and Asian restaurants (18.5 per cent).
CONSCIOUSLY SOURCED
Pork has long been a big part of the menu at Vancouver-based Earls Kitchen + Bar restaurants, the premium-casual chain with 68 locations across Canada and the U.S. Whether it’s hand-rubbed bacon or its famed dry ribs, the goal is “consciously sourced” protein, says Dave Bursey, the company’s purchasing specialist for protein and dairy. Bursey says Earls buys 250,000 kilograms — 10 tractor trailers — of pork ribs and 150,000 kilograms of bacon every year. The chain serves only Certified Humane beef, he says, but it’s been a challenge to find a consistent source of raised-without-antibiotics (RWA) and crate-free pork.
All of the pork it serves is raised in Canada, but most of it is conventionally produced. “Right now, the only menu item using RWA pork is our dry ribs,” he says, citing Maple Leaf Foods’ Greenfield Natural Meats pork which is RWA but not raised without gestation crates. “We’re always asking for more third-party verified high-welfare pork — everyone is working toward it, though it’s not there yet.”
Leroy’s Crispy Ribs starter ($11.50), seasoned with coarse salt and cracked pepper, has been on the chain’s menu for decades, while its BBQ Ribs ($31 for a full rack, $23.50 for half) are served with classic sides such as warm potato salad with bacon. Earls’ Bacon Cheddar Burger ($16.50) comes topped with dry-cured bacon, a product Bursey says is unique in the chain-restaurant market.
“Our bacon is hand-rubbed and smoked — never pumped with water — and as clean as we can get,” he says of the product produced by Markham, Ont.-based Sofina Foods. “We decided four years ago to switch to dry-cured bacon, and though it’s 30 to 40 per cent more expensive, the flavour is better.”
While home-style pork cuts can be a hard sell in restaurants, Bursey says Earls is investigating premium pork products, including highly marbled heritage breeds such as Japanese Kurobuta, and testing new menu options, including a double-cut pork chop and pork schnitzel. Pork tacos are already on the menu in all U.S. Earls locations, while pork gyoza dumplings are available in its Denver store.
SERVING BETTER BACON
On the fast-food front, in 2016, A&W became the first Canadian QSR chain to serve only pork “raised without antibiotics.” Susan Senecal, the company’s president and COO, says pork was the last ingredient the burger chain set its sights on for improvements. “We’re obviously the home of The Burger Family, so we started with beef,” says Senecal of A&W’s switch to beef raised without hormones or steroids for its more than 850 restaurants across the country. “In 2016, we announced that all of our pork products are raised without the use of antibiotics.”
Bacon is an integral ingredient to the A&W Teenburger ($3.50) and though RWA bacon is more expensive, Senecal says menu prices have not been increased.
Jourden says Technomic has yet to determine how many restaurants are using RWA or humanely raised pork but “I’d say it’s certainly on the radar and poised for growth.” In November 2016, Ricky’s All Day Grill — headquartered in Burnaby, B.C. — announced it would be serving RWA breakfast meats (including bacon, breakfast sausage, chorizo and Black Forest ham), Jourden says, while Pizza Nova is now using pork and beef pepperoni “made without the use of antibiotics or hormones.”
PORK ON TOP TABLES
The farm-to-table movement remains a primary focus for top chefs and when it comes to quality pork, many seek out local farmers raising heirloom Tamworth, Berkshire or Ossabaw pigs for their upscale menus.
Sustainable and ethical food production is vital for chef Chris Whittaker at Forage Restaurant in Vancouver. Whittaker’s meaty menu includes plenty of pork, but no beef. “Beef was an ethical decision,” says Whittaker citing the “environmental impact” of beef production as a reason for his decision to feature pork and bison, not beef, on the menu at Forage and sister restaurant, Timber.
Whittaker visits the farms and looks for animals that “have lots of room to roam and do the things they want to do.”
He buys whole pigs and uses every part of the animal in his zero-waste kitchen. Hind legs are salted and cured for prosciutto; trotters and hocks are brined for head cheese, the butts are smoked for pulled pork, skin is fried for chicharrón, and leaf lard is used in the pastry for pork pies (tourtière).
A Forage specialty is tender pork belly or porchetta with crispy crackling, but there’s also house-cured barbecued ham hash for breakfast ($18), Popcorn & Crackling bar snacks ($8) and the Caesar Salad with bannock croutons and pork-jowl chips ($15) on the menu at Timber, a casual spot next door.
While statistics show pork is losing ground on fine-dining menus (down 3.7 per cent), top chefs remain committed to serving quality pork. At Vancouver’s Nightingale, chef David Hawksworth’s new casual concept, smoked bacon is featured on the slow-roasted onion and fior di latte pizza ($17), pork belly is served with house sauerkraut and honey mustard ($24), and the rigatoni is topped with a pork and heirloom-tomato ragout ($22).
The Blue Water Cafe in Vancouver offers prime Japanese Kurobuta Pork Cheeks ($18.50) Milanese style, with cauliflower “couscous” studded with local hazelnuts and lemon-caper butter. Calgary chef and butcher Connie DeSousa has made a sport of deboning the whole pig heads she stuffs with her own mortadella mixture for a popular starter at Charcut Roast House ($13) while the giant “Share Burger” with cheese curds and fried egg features a patty made with a house-made pork-sausage mixture ($2.80 per ounce).
Montreal’s Au Pied de Cochon is the palace of pig’s feet, and the namesake trotter, stuffed with foie gras, may be the ultimate pork dish. At $54, it’s the priciest item on the menu but that doesn’t deter diners who still line up for chef Martin Picard’s hearty Québécois cooking.
Pork also looms large on the menu at chef Michael Smith’s FireWorks restaurant in P.E.I., where pork specialties from his wood-fired ovens include smoky charcuterie and Smoke House Pork Belly and Loin, served as part of his $120 family-style feast.
Premium pork has a premium price — 50 to 100 per cent more than conventional, commodity pork — but the flavour and texture is superior, especially when you can find a thick chop on the bone that’s expertly cut.
SMOKY, SPICY, TENDER PORK
Pork is a prime ingredient for the Mexican and Asian-inspired dishes on many menus, from pork tacos and pulled-pork sandwiches, to Szechuan pork stir frys, bao and noodle bowls topped with Korean pork belly or Chinese char sui.
But the current growth in authentic, slow-smoked southern barbecue restaurants may be the main reason Canadians are consuming more pork. A recent Ontario Pork Producers survey found “barbecue-style” pork ribs (29 per cent), pulled pork (27 per cent) and pork chops (12 per cent) are the most popular items purchased in foodservice. Diners flock to barbecue joints such as Toronto’s Stockyard’s Smokehouse and Larder or Calgary’s Palomino Smokehouse, and many modern pit masters haul their smokers to outdoor events, or serve up their smoky ribs and pulled pork from food trucks.
That was the genesis of Jason Rees and Andrea Toole’s Pork Ninjas. Starting as competition barbecue chefs, they moved into catering and recently took over the kitchen at Wenona Craft Beer Lodge on Bloor St. in Toronto, serving pastured Ontario pork side ribs ($20), hickory-and-apple-smoked pulled-pork shoulder sandwiches and bowls ($14) or plates with biscuits and side dishes ($17), Pulled Pork Kimchi Spring Roll ($7) and BBQ Porky Poutine with fries, curds and pork-stock gravy ($15).
It was outdoor cooking that drew Victoria’s Chris Jones into the barbecue restaurant business last year, too. What started with barbecue catering — feeding the talent at major west-coast music festivals — morphed into busy barbecue restaurant The Ruby. Jones honed his skills in Texas and now specializes in smoky pork butt, ribs and beef brisket, sold by the pound ($16) or rack ($18) with coleslaw or potato salad ($9/L) and beans ($12/L) on the side. “I’m trying to stay true to Texas and North Carolina styles,” he says. Jones says the ubiquitous “pulled pork” — a commercial braised-pork product turning up on everything from pizza to poutine — has increased demand for his authentic barbecue pork, smoked with wood for more than 12 hours.
“I actually don’t call it pulled pork — it’s on the menu as pork butt — and we sometimes have to explain to customers what that is,” he says, noting the small shop sells 200 to 300 racks of ribs and 50 pork shoulders every week.
“We do go after local pork as much as possible,” he adds. “That’s what people are looking for — they want to know how it was raised.”
Volume 50, Number 2
Written by Cinda Chavich
