Got something of a sweet surprise on a recent visit to Bandon Farmers Market when I called to see Nathan Wall of the Saddleback Pig Company. “Try these,” he said, as he handed me a pack of what looked like blackish rashers.
What trick was this, I thought. But, in fact, it was a treat. The “Sweet Black Bacon Smoked” are fantastic. Treacle has been used in the process and when the rashers are cooked, they do look even blacker. Their initial burst of sweet flavour is fantastic and they are my Taste of the Week.
It is a new product and I’m sure our local chefs can do something really special with it once they get to know of it. In the meantime, you get a pack (or two) from Nathan at the market in Bandon (every Saturday) and in Clonakilty (every Friday).
Nathan has a small family run farm situated in Baltimore, West Cork, specialising in the breeding and rearing of rare breed Saddleback pigs.
“Though only a small business we concentrate on the welfare of all our pigs which are reared and run outside where they are free to root and forage. Our pigs are raised on a diet of mainly vegetables and rolled barley which are chemical free and do not contain any growth enhancers allowing the pigs to mature over a longer period of time giving the meat a fuller flavour.”
Products include:
Sausages made from a minimum of 86 per cent meat with natural casings and no artificial preservatives.
Dry cured bacon naturally smoked or unsmoked in a cure made up of sea salt, raw cane sugar and a mixture of herbs and spices.
Hams produced in a brine of white wine, rosemary, bay, thyme, pepper and juniper.
All cuts of pork are available fresh or frozen.
Read more about them here. 
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