Pork Dictionary

by | Jun 21, 2014 | BBQ, Food, Pork | 0 comments

Pork Dictionary

The pig is famous for being able to be used “nose to tail.” Here is a glossary related to all manner of pork products.

AMMERLANDER SCHINKEN

  • A dry-cured, typically smoked ham from Ammerland, North Germany.

ANDOUILLE SAUSAGE

  • Made with pork and/or pork byproducts stuffed into large intestines.  Associated with Cajun cooking. Product can be sold cooked or uncooked. Andouille is a coined name and must be accompanied by a true product name, e.g., sausage  or “pudding” depending on formulation.  If beef is used, it must be shown in the product name, e.g., Beef Andouille Sausage.

BACON

For Bacon and Pork Sausage, Arkansas or Arkansas-Style Bacon, Canned Bacon, and Beef and Pork Bacon, see Bacon Glossary.

  • The term bacon is used to describe the cured belly of a swine carcass. If meat from other portions of the carcass is used, the product name must be qualified to identify the portions, e.g., Pork Shoulder Bacon. “Certified” refers to products that have been treated for trichinae.

BERLINER

  • A cooked smoked sausage usually made from coarsely cut cured pork in large casings. When beef is used, it shall not exceed 50 per cent of the meat block.  Pork stomachs or beef tripe not permitted.

BERLINER BLOOD SAUSAGE

  • A cooked blood sausage containing diced bacon.  After cooking it is dried and smoked. Ham fat, snouts, and lips are not permitted.

BIER SCHINKEN (German)

  • The literal translation is “Beer Ham.”  If product is made of all pork, it may be labeled Bier Schinken.

BLOOD PUDDING

  • See Blood Sausage

BLOOD AND TONGUE SAUSAGE

  • Same as Blood Sausage, except cured and cooked pork or beef tongues are used.

BLOOD  SAUSAGE

  • A cooked sausage formulated with blood and some meat.  Usually contains pork skins and/or pork jowls.   May also contain sweet pickled ham fat, snouts, and lips. If the product does not contain meat, it must be labeled as Blood Pudding.

BREAKFAST LINKS OR PATTIES

  • Then names Breakfast Links and Breakfast Patties can be considered fanciful names, which must be followed by a descriptive product name. Such products are acceptable without compliance with the fresh pork sausage or breakfast sausage standard. If the names Breakfast Links or Breakfast Patties are used without further qualification, the products must meet either the fresh pork sausage standard or the breakfast sausage standard.

BOCKWUST

  • German sausage invented by R. Scholtz of Berlin in 1889. Made from veal and pork with a natural casing. Traditionally eaten with bock beer.

BOSTON BUTT

  • Area of meat that comes from the pork shoulder. Also known as “Boston-Style,” and “Picnic Ham.” As stated in the Boston Globe, May 7, 2006, “A Boston butt doesn’t come from the back of the pig, but rather from the shoulder…In Colonial times, the shoulders were packed into “butts” – the word for barrels – for shipping or storage.”

BRATWURST

  • Also called brats. Fresh or cured sausage made form veal, pork, or beef. The names comes from the German verb braten which means “to pan fry or roast.”

BUTIFARRA or BOTIFARRA (Sausage)

  • Sausage from Catalan cuisine. Uncured sausage.
    • RAW BOTIFARRA – simply grilled or barbecued.
    • BLACK BOTIFARRA – containing boiled pork blood.
    • WHITE BOTIFARRA – contains no blood.
  • Labeling that features the term “Butifarra” would require an additional product name:
    • Pork Sausage – for those products that meet the fresh pork sausage standard.
    • Fresh Sausage – for those products that include byproduct but do not meet the standard for pork sausage.
    • Sausage – for those products the are incubated or fermented. The term Puerto Rican Style would be applicable if manufactured in Puerto Rico.

CALABRESE

  • A spicy salami originating in Southern Italy.  Usually made entirely of pork seasoned with hot peppers.

CANADIAN AND CANADIAN STYLE BACON

  • “Canadian Bacon” and “Canadian Style Bacon” are synonymous. Product which is identified as “Canadian Style Bacon” is made from a trimmed boneless pork loin. On the shoulder end, the cross section of the longissimus dorsi muscle shall be equal to or larger than the combined cross sectional areas of the spenius and semispinalis capitis muscles. The ham end shall be removed anterior to the ilium. The exposed faces shall be approximately perpendicular with the skin surface. The dorsal and ventral side on each end of the “Canadian Style Bacon” shall not be more than 1.0 inch different in length. The belly is removed adjacent to the longissimus dorsi muscle. All bones and cartilage shall be removed. The tenderloin and the flesh overlying the blade bone are excluded. The surface fat (and false lean when necessary) shall be trimmed to 0.3 inches thick at any point. The fat on the ventral and dorsal sides is neatly beveled to meet the lean.

CAPACOLLO, COOKED (Capicola, Capocolla, Capacola, Capicollo, Cappicola, Capacolo)

  • Boneless pork shoulder butts which are cured and then cooked.  The curing process may be dry curing, immersion curing, or pump curing.  The cured product is coated with spices and paprika before cooking.  This product shall always be labeled with “Cooked” as part of the product name.  Water added is permitted.

CASINGS

  • The material that encases sausage. Can be natural or artificial. Natural casings come from the intestines from pig, sheep, goat, and cattle, where the outer fat and inner lining have been removed. Natural casings are distinguishable by their appearance and are preferred to artificial casings due to their ability to breathe and allow the smoking and cooking flavors to infuse the meat. Artificial casings may or may not be edible, and can be made from collagen, cellulose, or other materials. Some sausages are cured with artificial casings when the consumer is intending to peel it from the meat. Newer casings allow flavors to flow to meat during processing.

CAUL FAT

  • The fat surrounding the digestive organs. It most often used in charcuterie and for wrapping lean meats for roasting.

CENTER SLICE: In Reference to Ham

  • When the term center slice is used on labels for slices of ham from smoked and cooked, smoked, or water cooked hams, product must be sliced from an area of the original ham positioned about 1 inch on each side of a center cut.

CERVELAT

  • A cured and cooked sausage, often a semi-dry or dry summer sausage.  Like a frankfurter, but with more texture and a smokier flavor. See Goettinger Cervelat.

CHICHARRONES

  • The Spanish name for fried pork skins. Also see “Cracklings.”

CHITTERLINGS / CHITLINS

  • The small intestines of a pig. Hog bungs may be labeled “Pork Citterlings”.

CHOPS, PORK

  • Cut of pork that is cut perpendicularly to the spine and typically containing a rib in the portion; available as bone-in and boneless.
    • CENTER CUT CHOPS – similar to a beef T-Bone steak.
    • RIB CHOPES – similar to a beef Ribeye steak.
    • BLADE CHOPES – comes from the spine area.
    • SIRLOIN CHOPS – comes from the leg end.
    • IOWA CHOPS – thick cut chops, originating from Iowa and created by the Iowa Pork Producers Association.
    • BACON CHOPS – pork chops containing pork belly meat.

CHORIZO

  • Spanish or Portuguese (chourico). Pork sausage with natural casings. Made with chopped pork, pork fat, and smoked paprika, Spanish pimento, or red pepper. Can be sweet or spicy, and smoked or unsmoked. The Portuguese version typically contains wine.
  • Partially defatted pork fatty tissue is acceptable in Chorizo. Wine is considered a flavoring and need only appear in the ingredients statement. However, the liquid is credited as added water.

CHORIZO, FRESH

  • These products may contain vinegar. The vinegar used  must have a strength of no less than 4 grams of acetic acid per 100 cubic centimeters (20 degrees C).

CHORIZO IN LARD

  • Product must contain at least 55% chorizo. Canned: Canned chorizos that are packed hot, usually in lard, and are not thermally processed must have a moisture protein ratio of 1:8:1 and a pH of not more than 5.5.

COTECHINO

  • Pork skin sausage similar to salami. From Italy. Meat and meat by-products other than pork skin can be used in this product. It could also be given the name of pork skin sausage in parentheses as a common name. Italian sausage. A variety of cooked sausage. 

CRACKLINGS

  • Pork rinds; the skin or rind of a pig. See also “Chicarrones.”

CUMBERLAND SAUSAGE

  • Traditionally from Cumberland, England, Cumberland sausagaes are long, circular sausages made of pork and flavored with pepper (spices – black pepper and white pepper are used), herbs, and depending on how fine the meat is processed, it will have a smoother or chunkier texture.

CUTLETS

  • Pork cutlets may consist of pork temple meat, inside masseter muscles, and small pieces of lean from the tip of pork jaws. These are flattened and knitted together in cutlet size products by means of cubing or Frenching machines, or by hand pounding with cubing hammers.  The term cutlet relates to thin slices of meat.  They can be identified as sliced pork meat product when the designation clearly states the specific part of the carcass from which the meat in the product is derived, such as “pork loin cutlets”.

EASTER NOLA

  • Salami that is made with pork that is coarsely chopped and mildly seasoned with black pepper and garlic.

FATBACK

  • Cut of pork containing a layer of fat under the skin of the back, with or without the skin (the pork rind). Fatback can be rendered out to make lard. Fatback is used in making salt pork. The second highest grade of lard, it is a ‘hard fat.’

FARMER SAUSAGE CERVELAT

  • Semi-dry sausage, but may be made in dry form. Usually made of equal parts of pork and beef delicately seasoned without garlic.
  • FARMER SUMMER SAUSAGE: Made of beef, pork, salt, spices, nitrite or nitrate, and heavily smoked. It is classed as “Cervelat” and no extenders are permitted. The word “Farmer” is considered a generic term. The product must be trichina-treated.

FRIZZES

  • Dry Italian sausage, typically air dried and unsmoked. Similar to pepperoni, but not smoked. Made from pork, beef, and flavored with peppercorns.

GALICIAN SAUSAGE

  • Cured beef and pork is seasoned and stuffed into beef rounds. It is then smoked at a high temperature. Cooling is done in a blast of air which produces a wrinkled appearance which is characteristic of Galician sausage.

GENOA or GENOA SALAMI

  • It is prepared with all pork or with a mixture of pork and a small amount of beef. The meat is given a coarse grind and enclosed in a natural casing.  No smoke is used in its preparation.

GOETTINGER CERVELAT

  • A dry cervelat with no binders / byproducts.

GOTEBORG

  • A Swedish dry sausage made of coarsely chopped beef and sometimes pork.  Mildly seasoned with thyme.  It has a somewhat salty flavor and is heavily smoked, usually in long casings and air dried.

GOTHAER CERVELAT

  • Originated in Gotha, Germany. Usually made of very lean pork finely chopped and cured.

HAM

For specific ham products, like Westphalian, Smithfield, Scotch-Style, Shankless, Prusciutto di Parma, Capacollo/Capacolla, and others, see the Ham Glossary. 

  • HAM, FRESH (or uncured):
    • The uncured leg of pork. Since the meat is not cured or smoked, it has the flavor of a fresh pork loin roast or pork chops. Its raw color is pinkish red and after cooking, grayish white. Ham that does not contain a cure must be labeled either “Fresh” or “Uncured” – prepared without nitrate or nitrite. This also applies to cooked product, and must be labeled cooked product “Cooked Uncured Ham.”
  • COUNTRY HAM, COUNTRY STYLE HAM, or DRY CURED HAM, and COUNTRY PORK SHOULDER, COUNTRY STYLE PORK SHOULDER, or DRY CURED PORK SHOULDER:
    • The uncooked, cured, dried, smoked or unsmoked meat food products made respectively from a single piece of meat conforming to the definition of “ham,” or from a single piece of meat from a pork shoulder. They are prepared by the dry application of salt or by salt and one or more optional ingredients: nutritive sweeteners, spices, seasonings, flavorings, sodium or potassium nitrate, and sodium or potassium nitrite. They may not be injected with curing solutions nor placed in curing solutions. The product must be treated for the destruction of possible live trichinae.

HEADCHEESE

  • A jellied product consisting predominantly of pork byproducts and seasoning ingredients. It must contain some product from the heat. Extenders like cereal, soy, nonfat dry milk, etc., are not permitted ingredients of headcheese.

HOCKS

  • The joint between the tibia/fibula and the metatarsals of the pig’s foot. Often found smoked, and is used in stewed and braised dishes. Even though it is often called ‘ham hocks,’ it is actually the extreme shank end of the leg bone.

ITALIAN STYLE SAUSAGE

  • Sausage containing anise or fennel, and at least three of the following: basil, marjoram, oregano, garlic, or olive oil. Tomato products and other unexpected ingredients can be added if the product name indicates their presence. 

ITALIAN STYLE SMOKED SAUSAGE

  • Sausage containing anise or fennel, and at least three of the following: basil, marjoram, oregano, garlic, or olive oil, and smoked.

JAGWURST

  • Same as yachtwurst (Americanized name). German sausage made of lean beef and pork. Also contains pork belly, salt, pepper, garlic, mustard seed, pepper, mace, and cardamom. This sausage is a fine emulsion with cubes of lean meat.

JAMON

  • Spanish word for “ham.” “Jamon de Cocinar” is cured pork for cooking as opposed to slicing. When the term “Jamon” appears before the name of a limb, it means the product is cured. With the exception of products available for sale in Puerto Rico, all Spanish product names followed with the English translation, such as Jamon de Paleta – Cured Pork Shoulder.

KALBELWURST

  • Similar to Bockwurst with no limit on water or milk.

KIELBASA

  • A Central and Eastern European sausage that is cured, cooked, and usually smoked, and is made from coarsely ground pork or coarsely ground pork with added beef or mutton. Depending on the region it is made, it could be flavored with caraway, garlic, hot peppers, herbs such as marjoram, and others. It is also found unsmoked, or “fresh.”
  • Kolbassy is Czechoslovakian spelling; other variations include Kielbassy, Kolbasa and Kolbase. Kielbasa is made from coarsely ground pork or coarsely ground pork with added beef or mutton. “Hungarian Style Kolbase” is finely ground product, seasoned and stuffed into casings. The 70/30 rule can be used, however, pork must always be the predominant meat ingredient. “Beef Kielbasa” is prepared with only beef as the meat ingredient. Byproducts are not permitted ingredients in these sausages.
  • An uncured (fresh), uncooked variety, with no more than 3 percent water exists. “Fresh” shall be used in the name when the product is uncured. When fresh Kielbasa is cooked or smoked, then cooked or smoked is required in the product name

KISKA, KISBA, KISHKA, STUFFED DERMA

  • Ingredients statement is part of the product name. A meat food product prepared two ways:
    • 1. Prepared with meat byproducts, including beef blood, pork snouts, pork livers, pork cheeks, etc. Packaged in fully labeled retail size packages or individually banded. When beef blood is used, it must be shown as part of product name.
    • Prepared with more than 30 percent animal fat, mixed with farinaceous (consisting of or made of flour or meal) materials containing no other meat byproducts and ordinarily stuffed into beef casings and cooked.

KRAKOW

  • Acceptable name for cooked sausage similar to “Berliner“.

KUEMMELWURST / CARAWAYWURST

  • Cooked sausage with caraway seeds. Usual ingredients are beef, pork, salt, caraway, flavorings, and cure.

LARD

  • Pig fat that may or may not be rendered. Because of its very high smoke point (390 degrees F) and distinctive flavor, lard is popular cooking fat for deep fat frying and for baking.
  • Lard Refined: This term is applied to open-kettle rendered, prime steam, or dry-rendered lard put through a filter press, with or without bleaching agent. 

LARDON

  • Small strip or cube of pork fat.

LEAF LARD

  • Highest grade of lard obtained form the ‘flare’ visceral fat deposit surrounding the kidneys and inside the loin. It has very little flavor making it ideal for culinary usage, such as baked goods.

LEONA

  • Coarse ground cooked sausage.

LINGUICA

  • Portuguese sausage seasoned with garlic and paprika, and typically flavored with any of the following: cumin seeds, garlic, paprika, vinegar, nonfat milk powder, and other items.

LOIN, PORK

  • Primal Cut. Top part of the pig. The following cuts are from this part: blade loin roasts, sirloin, center loin, pork cutlets, pork chops, pork loin crown roast, pork tenderloin.

LOLA and LOLITA

  • Italian, dry sausage. Consists of mildly seasoned pork and contains garlic. Lolita comes in small links and Lola comes in larger links.

LONGANIZA

  • Fresh sausage product. Spanish sausage similar to chorizo and linguica. It differs from chorizo in that it contains black pepper instead of paprika, but paprika is an acceptable ingredient because it is expected. Depending on the region, it may contain anise seeds and be mildly sweet, or contain garlic and be almost sour.
  • Puerto Rican Style Longaniza: Pork sausage which may contain beef and contains annatto.

LOUKANIKO

  • Greek pork sausage typically flavored with orange peel, allspice, fennel, herbs, and seeds. It is sometimes smoked, and commonly made with lamb.

LYONER WURST

  • Cooked, smoked, and finely ground German sausage. It is made with beef, pork, flavoring, cure, and green peppercorns.

LYONS SAUSAGE

  • Dry French sausage made exclusively of pork (four parts finely chopped lean and one or two parts small diced fat) with spices and garlic which is stuffed into large casings, cured, and air-dried.

METTWURST

  • Strongly flavored German sausage made from raw minced pork. Cured and smoked; the longer the smoking the firmer the sausage.

METZ SAUSAGE

  • Cured lean beef, pork, and bacon are finely chopped, seasoned, and stuffed into beef middles. It is air-dried for 5 days, then given a cool smoke. It is classed as a semi-dry sausage.

MILAN or MILANO SALAMI

  • Italian-type dry salami, with the meat finely cut. It is made with beef, pork fat, and spiced with garlic.

MORCELLA BLOOD PUDDING

  • Made from pork fat, beef or pork blood, and may contain meat.

MORTADELLA

  • Italian sausage made from finely ground pork with at least 15% small cubes of pork fat. Typically contains the following spices: myrtle berries, nutmeg, pistachios, peppers, or olives.
  • Cooked sausage, either dry or semi-dry. Similar to salami and cervelat except it has large chunks of pork fat. Red sweet peppers up to 4 percent and pistachio nuts up to 1 percent are acceptable as long as they are shown in the true product name. 

PEPPERONI

  • Dry sausage similar to salami made of pork, or pork and beef. Pepperoni is typically flavored with items such as peppers, garlic, fennel, mustard seeds – all used in different combinations to achieve different spiciness levels.

PETIT SALE

  • In French cuisine, it is salted pork that is brined.

PFEFFERWURST

  • German sausage containing whole peppercorns.

PICNIC or PORK SHOULDER, PICNIC

  • See Boston Butt. A front shoulder cut of pork. The term “picnic” cannot be used unless accompanied with the primal or subprimal cut. Pork shoulder picnic is not always a cured item. A shoulder “picnic” comes from the lower portion of the shoulder.

POLISH SAUSAGE

  • See Kielbasa.
  • A sausage that is cured, cooked, and usually smoked. Pork and pork byproducts shall comprise at least 50 percent of the meat and meat byproducts ingredients. To have beef as a predominant ingredient, the product name would be —Beef and Pork Polish Sausage.“ Green peppers are permitted up to 4 percent in total formulation.

PORK AND BACON SAUSAGE

  • Up to 50 percent bacon permitted provided:
    • 1. bacon is brought back to green weight before use.
    • 2. product is trichinae treated.
    • 3. product name is “Pork and Bacon Sausage.”
  • The standard for “Pork Sausage and/with Bacon” is 10 to 20 percent bacon, and for “Pork and Bacon Sausage” is more than 20 percent but not more than 50 percent bacon.

PORK BELLY

PORK SPARERIBS, CENTER CUT

  • Center cut pork spare ribs refers to pork spare ribs with the loin portion, the brisket (brisket must be removed at a point which is dorsal to the curvature of the costal cartilages), the tail and two ribs from the shoulder removed, this remaining center section may be further portioned or left in one piece.

PORK SPARERIBS, ST. LOUIS STYLE

  • St. Louis Style Spare Ribs are the same as “Pork Spareribs” except that the sternum and the ventral portion of the costal cartilages are removed with the flank portion. This cut is made at a point in which the sternum and costal cartilages are removed dorsal to the curvature of the costal cartilages. If specified by the purchaser, the diaphragm shall be removed.

PRIMAL CUT

  • The initial cuts made on the pig during butchering. The pork primal cuts are: shoulder (butt or blade), loin, shoulder, spare ribs or belly (sometimes called ‘side’), and ham or leg.

PROSCIUTTO

  • Italian for ham, dry cured. The product name “Prosciutto” is acceptable on labeling to identify a dry-cured ham. An Italian-style dry cured raw ham; not smoked; often coated with pepper. Prosciutto can be eaten raw because the low water content prevents bacterial growth.
    • PARMA HAM is prosciutto from the Parma locale in Italy, in accordance to Italian Law which defines the denomination of origin, territorial limits, product characteristic, and manufacture. These hams tend to be larger than the U.S. produced product, as Italian hogs are larger at slaughter.

PULLED PORK

  • Cooked pork that has been pulled apart. The meat must retain its natural muscle fiber structure (it can be shredded, chunked, etc., but not ground or chopped).

SALAMI

  • Cured sausage, fermented, and air dried – and containing a mixture of meats, including pork, beef, venison, poultry, and others. It has a characteristic mottled look to the meat. Pork skins are not a permitted ingredient in cooked salami.
    • GENOA SALAMI – salami with a moisture protein ratio of no more than 2.3:1.
    • SICILIAN SALAMI – salami with a moisture protein ratio of no more than 2.3:1.
    • COTTO SALAMI – mildly flavored salami, made of coarsely ground beef and pork with visible pieces of peppercorns.
    • HARD SALAMI – salami made with beef and pork and seasoned with garlic, and with a moisture protein ratio of 1.9:1.
    • ITALIAN SALAMI – distinguished by its covering of white mold.  Contains about 80% finely chopped pork, with a small amount of pork fat. Nonfat dry milk can comprise 3 1/2% of the finished product. The remainder of the sausage contains chopped beef, seasoning, salt, and a curing agent. Moisture protein ratio of 1.9:1.
    • SOPPRESATE – Italian salami lightly flavored with garlic and hotly seasoned with paprika and black or red peppers.

SALO

  • Eastern European cuisine, it is cured slabs of fatback, with or without the skin attached. While sometimes translated as ‘bacon,’ It is non necessarily bacon-cured.

SALSICCIA

  • Spiced Italian fresh pork rope style sausage made of finely cut pork trimmings.

SALT PORK

  • Salt-cured pork coming from one of three primal cuts: pork side, pork belly, or fat back.

SCHICKENWURST

  • The product is made of two parts, one of which is an emulsion prepared from pork and beef cuts. The second component consists of chunks of ham measuring from 2 to 3 inches in size. The two parts are mixed, stuffed into large casings, and smoked while being cooked. The final product appears as a luncheon sausage with large pieces of red ham meat held together by a light pink binder. The ham sections comprise at least 50 percent of the product and the item has a distinct smoked flavor.

SHOULDER, PORK

  • Primal cut. See Boston Butt.

SOPPRESATE

  • Italian. See Salami.

SOUSE

  • Nonspecific product made with all pork byproducts.

SPARERIBS or SPARE RIBS

  • CENTER CUT – Pork spareribs with the loin portion – the brisket, the tail, and two ribs from the shoulder are removed.
  • ST. LOUIS STYLE – Same as above, except that the sternum and the ventral portion of the costal cartilages are removed with the flank portion.

STREAK OF LEAN or STREAK O’ LEAN

  • Fatback with some meat still attached. Typically salt cured and sold in blocks, and resembles bacon.

SUCKLING PIG

  • The whole body of a young pig ranging in age from two to 6 weeks.

THURINGER

  • Smoked semi-dry sausage. 
  • Following applies: Pork fat may comprise up to 10% of the total ingredients; Heart meat may comprise up to 50% of meat ingredients; Tongue meat may comprise up to 10% of meat ingredients; Cheek meat may comprise up to 50% of meat ingredients; No binders or extenders.

TOCINO

  • Spanish word for salt pork or bacon.
  • FILIPINO or PHILIPPINE STYLE – Thinly sliced meat taken from either pork hind leg or shoulder.

TROTTERS

  • Pigs feet.

WEISSWURST

  • German white sausage. The color of the sausage after cooking is white because of the lack of cure or the type of meat used, similar to Bratwurst. When milk or milk and eggs are added to a Weisswurst batch, it should be labeled as “Kalbsbratwurst” or “Bockwurst” respectively. 

WESTPHALIAN HAM or WESTPHALIAN-STYLE HAM

WHOLE  HOG SAUSAGE

  • Sausage; must contain all primal parts of a hog. Heart and tongue, in natural proportions, are permitted when declared in the ingredients. Other meat byproducts are not permitted.

 

Resources:

Some definitions adapted from Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book, USDA.