Black Alpine Pig

At the international Alpine Food Contest Alp'24 at the Culinarium Alpinum in Stans, where 330 agricultural products from across the Alps were judged by a panel of experts in five categories, the hearty, nutty-tasting lardo from Zumbühl's farm shop “Hiäsigs” in Grafenort NW scored the highest mark in the meat and fish products category with 20 points, earning it a gold medal!

Thanks to the Löcker family and graduates of the MultiAugustinum in Sankt Margarethen (Lungau), there is now also a collection of Austrian recipes for tasting Black Alpine Pigs. These can be downloaded as a PDF from the PatriMont website: => Link
Unfortunately, the brochure is only available in German.

The meat of black Alpine pigs requires very special preparation. The award-winning professional chef Anna Pearson has now created recipes tailored to the black Alpine pigs that showcase the meat to its full culinary advantage.
Unfortunately, the brochure with nine recipes is only available in German.

At the annual meeting of PatriMont-Switzerland, Anna Jenni, project manager at FiBL, spoke about the results of the first two years (2022-23) of the Fern Eaters project. It is well known that black Alpine pigs like to eat bracken, even though it is actually poisonous. They do not show any discomfort and can be used to suppress the overgrowth of bracken in the Alps. Studies by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) have now shown that the poison is not stored in the body and that the pig products are harmless. A very astonishing advantage of this mountain-suitable pig breed.

A successful photo from Frauke Watzek's bachelor thesis on "Influence of the Black Alpine Pig on Alpine Vegetation" (submitted to the ZHAW on January 11, 2024)

The bi-monthly magazine "Marmite" - the name is derived from the French word for cooking pot ("la marmite") - is an extraordinary "gourmet magazine" that highlights the trends in Michelin-starred cuisine. The November 2023 issue focuses on pork and in particular the black Alpine pig. Conclusion: the black Alpine pig has arrived in "gastronomic star heaven"!
Marmite issue no. 6, November 2023 (Fr. 16.50); www.marmite.ch

Our breeder Nina Hitz describes her black Alpine pigs as athletic and elegant. We can only agree with that (Photo Tanja Kutzer).

In the mountain village of Chamby, above Montreux on Lake Geneva, at an altitude of 950 metres, the first breeding group of black Alpine pigs with a red boar can now be found at the Ferme la Clairière. After about 100 years, Alpine pigs have returned to French-speaking Switzerland. (Foto Hape Grunenfelder)

As already mentioned in the article of 20 May 2022, there used to be deep red Alpine pigs in some areas. It has now been possible to combine red animals from individual matings and thus revive the breeding of this extraordinary colour (Photo: Goldau Nature and Wildlife Park).

As already in the open-air museum Glentleiten in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps, in the nature and animal park Goldau in Central Switzerland, now also the Swiss open-air museum Ballenberg in the Bernese Oberland shows a breeding group of black Alpine pigs in a very spacious enclosure. (Foto Hape Grünenfelder).

In Switzerland, the ProSpecieRara Foundation presents all rare and endangered livestock breeds at a large exhibition every five years. This year, for the first time, the Black Alpine Pigs were also present and made a convincing impression with a successful presentation. At a parallel lecture event, the renewed development of breeding in Switzerland and the marketing of the products were highlighted.

Created by artist Ingrid Bickel for ProSpecieRara's Animal Expo 2022 in Brunegg

In mid-May, a supplementary import of Alpine pigs from Austria was successfully completed. After two and a half months, the animals were distributed from the quarantine station of the Goldau Zoo to the breeding farms. One sow remained in Goldau as a show and breeding animal. The import primarily served to broaden the genetic base of Swiss breeding, but also to strengthen the "red factor". As historical documents by Prof. Anderegg (1898) and Johann Jakob Steinmüller (1827) show, red Alpine pigs used to be found in the mountainous regions of Central Switzerland, the Oberhasli and around the Oberalp and Lukmanier Passes, which are now to be re-established.

New map with the confirmed historical distribution according to Prof. Anderegg (Anderegg Felix, 1898: Illustriertes Lehrbuch für die gesamte Schweizerische Alpwirtschaft) and Johann Jakob Steinmüller (Naturgeschichte des gemeinen Schweines und der verschiedenen Racen der Schweiz; Neue Alpina, 1827). It is possible that red Alpine pigs were also widespread in the Leventina and Goms, but there is no written evidence of this.

Urban Camenzind, the president of the Uri government, is the first person of his rank to be able to enjoy meat from black Alpine pigs again for a long time. It has been about 120 years since this breed was last kept in the canton of Uri. Now the breed is being re-established. By buying and consuming this meat, Urban Camenzind is actively contributing to the preservation and survival of the breed.

Photo: Urban Camenzind president of the Uri government 2021 on the right and breeder Markus Renner on the left in the flag room of the Altdorf Uri town hall.

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Markus Renner from Uri's Zieriberg had an amazing experience: his Alps are heavily planted with ferns. So far no animal has eaten from it. But now his black alpine pigs have discovered their roots as a delicacy and are diligently digging them up. In doing so, they are pushing back the ferns. Very astonishing and again a plus for the breed.

Das alpine Netzwerk PatriMont hat einen «Marketplace» eröffnet, der eine breite Öffentlichkeit auf Bezugsmöglichkeiten von Alpenschwein-Produkten hinweist. Die neue Webseite www.alpenschwein.market basiert auf Google-Maps. Darin wird mit verschiedenen Icons (Flaggen) und Kontaktdaten auf Hofläden, Verarbeiter und Gastrobetriebe hingewiesen, wo Alpenschwein-Produkte erworben oder genossen werden können. Jeder Betrieb stellt sich dabei auf einer Unterseite mit seinen eigenen Angeboten und Vorzügen vor.

With his project to run the Zieriberg above Erstfeld with Black Alpine pigs in a circular economy, pig farmer Markus Renner from Uri has won a a recognition prize. We congratulate Markus very warmly!

An interesting article on the black Alpine pig was published in the major Swiss weekly magazine "Tierwelt". You can read the article in German online at www.tierwelt.ch/alpenschweine. There you can also see a very nice video by Jörg Bellingen showing Markus Renner's Black Alpine pig breeding on the Zieriberg high above Erstfeld Uri.

The well-known film director Mark Rissi shot a short film on the Morgarot permaculture farm high above Altstätten in the Rhine Valley, which we are allowed to show here (© Mark Rissi / Tierreport).
=> Link to: film on Facebook

Fresco in Palazzo Vertemate at Piuro near Chiavenna (Valtellina, Italy). It shows Black Alpine Pigs before 1618. Probably one of the oldest testimonies (photo Dominik Flammer).

The elegant piglet and its elephantlike mother on the Geissherz organic farm Pali at the Lukmanierpass, Switzerland (snapshot Dominik Waldmeier)

Alpine piglets of gold and silver color with black spots south of the Hochtannberg Pass in Vorarlberg at about 1700 m above sea level. (Photo Thomas Muxel)

A breeding group of black alpine pig from the Hörnlibergland at 970 m above sea level. Now for summering on Alp Nadels in the Grisons at around 2000 m above sea level. (Photo Susanne Knaus)

Hannes Pignater, chef at the "Adler Lodges" on Renon/Suedtirol, has taken delivery of a whole fattening pig, which he uses from snout to tail. To this he wrote: "We received a black alpine pig some time ago and in the meantime we have a shoulder, legs and back worked and prepared for our guests. Our conclusion is very clear, great! We are very happy to have obtained this meat and would like to continue working with you."

The breeding group of black Alpine pigs from the "Biohof Pali" farm in Curaglia GR in their favorite place at 1,300 m above sea level (Photo Dominik Waldmeier / Eveline Hauser).

From historical records the approximate demarcation of the former distribution of alpine pigs in Switzerland could be determined. A summary is downloadable here (unfortunately only in German): Nachzeichnung Schweizer Schweineschläge.pdf

The new breeding group in Valle d'Aosta brings a lot of new blood, bonne chance!

At the Salami Festival in Lombardy in Cremona on October 25, 2019 the breeding company “La Pecora Nera ”from Morbegno (Valtellina) got the 1st prize for its manufactory salami made from Alpine pig meat. A big success!
The first time at a gastronomically oriented Fair the registered label (trademark) "Schwarzes Alpenschwein / Nero delle Alpi®" was used.

A historical postcard from 1922 shows black Alpine pigs on an alp in Château-d'Oex (canton of Vaud, Switzerland)