A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a high-falutin
pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile of fennel, couscous and
porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a frightening
shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the USDA recommendation for
cooking pork slipped to medium?

Goomba wrote:
>
> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a high-falutin
> pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile of fennel, couscous and
> porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a frightening
> shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the USDA recommendation for
> cooking pork slipped to medium?


You may be right about it being undercooked, but I have
a few marinades that leave pork and chicken pink when
they are fully cooked.

gloria p

Pork producers and marketing boards have been encouraging people to eat
their pork rarer for quite some time. It has been several decades since
there has been trichinosis (sp?) found in North American pork. Combined
with the ever decreasing amount of fat found in pork, rarer cooking is
almost a must to have anything that is close to edible.


"Goomba" > wrote in message
...
> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a high-falutin
> pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile of fennel, couscous
and
> porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a frightening
> shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the USDA recommendation
for
> cooking pork slipped to medium?
>
>

Pork producers and marketing boards have been encouraging people to eat
their pork rarer for quite some time. It has been several decades since
there has been trichinosis (sp?) found in North American pork. Combined
with the ever decreasing amount of fat found in pork, rarer cooking is
almost a must to have anything that is close to edible.


"Goomba" > wrote in message
...
> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a high-falutin
> pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile of fennel, couscous
and
> porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a frightening
> shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the USDA recommendation
for
> cooking pork slipped to medium?
>
>

I saw this.
Pork was a frightening shade of pink, bad practice, bad advertising.

"Goomba" > wrote in message
...
> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a high-falutin
> pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile of fennel, couscous
and
> porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a frightening
> shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the USDA recommendation
for
> cooking pork slipped to medium?
>
>

I saw this.
Pork was a frightening shade of pink, bad practice, bad advertising.

"Goomba" > wrote in message
...
> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a high-falutin
> pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile of fennel, couscous
and
> porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a frightening
> shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the USDA recommendation
for
> cooking pork slipped to medium?
>
>

On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 10:41:15 +0900, "Goomba"
> wrote:

> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a high-falutin
> pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile of fennel, couscous and
> porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a frightening
> shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the USDA recommendation for
> cooking pork slipped to medium?
>

I missed it too. I don't cook pork dry... but believe me
there ain't no pink in it.


Practice safe eating - always use condiments

On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 10:41:15 +0900, "Goomba"
> wrote:

> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a high-falutin
> pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile of fennel, couscous and
> porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a frightening
> shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the USDA recommendation for
> cooking pork slipped to medium?
>

I missed it too. I don't cook pork dry... but believe me
there ain't no pink in it.


Practice safe eating - always use condiments

Goomba wrote:

> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a high-falutin
> pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile of fennel, couscous
> and porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a
> frightening shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the
> USDA recommendation for cooking pork slipped to medium?

It's perfectly safe. It's pork from a herd compliant with the
Trichinae Herd Certification Program. You could eat it
raw every day for the rest of your life, and the possibility
that you would get Trichinae infestation is almost zero.
Your biggest risk by far would be bacterial contamination,
for example from spilled contents of the GI tract during
slaughterhouse processing.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/trichin.../herd_cert.htm

Goomba wrote:

> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a high-falut=
in
> pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile of fennel, couscou=
s and
> porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a frightening=

> shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the USDA recommendatio=
n for
> cooking pork slipped to medium?

No. The USDA still wants pork to be gaggy, gray and free of all that=20
pesky juiciness and flavor.

OTOH, they say it's safe when cooked over 137=B0F because any trichinae=20
that may be in there are dead. I routinely roast pork to 140=B0F, let it =

rest for a few minutes to let the residual heat bring it to maybe=20
145=B0. Carve and eat. Technically, it's medium.

Wonderfully moist served freshly roasted, perfect cold, sliced for a=20
sandwich. Safe.

Pastorio

Goomba wrote:

> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a high-falut=
in
> pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile of fennel, couscou=
s and
> porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a frightening=

> shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the USDA recommendatio=
n for
> cooking pork slipped to medium?

No. The USDA still wants pork to be gaggy, gray and free of all that=20
pesky juiciness and flavor.

OTOH, they say it's safe when cooked over 137=B0F because any trichinae=20
that may be in there are dead. I routinely roast pork to 140=B0F, let it =

rest for a few minutes to let the residual heat bring it to maybe=20
145=B0. Carve and eat. Technically, it's medium.

Wonderfully moist served freshly roasted, perfect cold, sliced for a=20
sandwich. Safe.

Pastorio

Bob Westcott wrote:

> Pork producers and marketing boards have been encouraging people to
> eat their pork rarer for quite some time. It has been several
> decades since there has been trichinosis (sp?) found in North
> American pork.

I posted the same thing a couple days ago on a Yahoo list I'm on and
was corrected. Somewhere, I read or heard or something that 1957 was
the last reported...

> Combined with the ever decreasing amount of fat found in pork,
> rarer cooking is almost a must to have anything that is close to
> edible.

Actually, trichinae are still found in an extremely tiny number of
commercial pigs. The real hazards for trichinosis are in wild game=20
meats and home-raised pigs.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis>
<http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5206a1.htm>

Cooking pork to any temperature over 140=B0F solves any potential=20
problem, minuscule that it is. I've tried rare pork (120=B0F) and didn't =

like the flavor or texture. Med-rare (130=B0F wasn't much better. 145=B0F=
=20
works best for me. Very moist, safe, tender but with a good mouthfeel.=20
Mostly I do either boned, rolled and tied shoulders (BRT, to a=20
butcher) or whole boneless loins.

Pastorio

> "Goomba" > wrote in message=20
> ...
>=20
>> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a
>> high-falutin pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile
>> of fennel, couscous
>=20
> and
>=20
>> porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a
>> frightening shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the
>> USDA recommendation
>=20
> for
>=20
>> cooking pork slipped to medium?
>>=20
>>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20

Bob Westcott wrote:

> Pork producers and marketing boards have been encouraging people to
> eat their pork rarer for quite some time. It has been several
> decades since there has been trichinosis (sp?) found in North
> American pork.

I posted the same thing a couple days ago on a Yahoo list I'm on and
was corrected. Somewhere, I read or heard or something that 1957 was
the last reported...

> Combined with the ever decreasing amount of fat found in pork,
> rarer cooking is almost a must to have anything that is close to
> edible.

Actually, trichinae are still found in an extremely tiny number of
commercial pigs. The real hazards for trichinosis are in wild game=20
meats and home-raised pigs.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichinosis>
<http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5206a1.htm>

Cooking pork to any temperature over 140=B0F solves any potential=20
problem, minuscule that it is. I've tried rare pork (120=B0F) and didn't =

like the flavor or texture. Med-rare (130=B0F wasn't much better. 145=B0F=
=20
works best for me. Very moist, safe, tender but with a good mouthfeel.=20
Mostly I do either boned, rolled and tied shoulders (BRT, to a=20
butcher) or whole boneless loins.

Pastorio

> "Goomba" > wrote in message=20
> ...
>=20
>> A color picture in an airline magazine last month featured a
>> high-falutin pork dish at a fancy restaurant. Resting atop a pile
>> of fennel, couscous
>=20
> and
>=20
>> porcini mushrooms were 3 pork tenderloin slices cooked to a
>> frightening shade of pink. Am I too old to have noticed when the
>> USDA recommendation
>=20
> for
>=20
>> cooking pork slipped to medium?
>>=20
>>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20