Maiale, Maialino, Porco, Porcello, Porcellino, Porceddu, Suino

Italians have always loved pork, not only because it is so easy to raise, but because every scrap of the animal can be used. When I was a boy, almost anyone who could kept a pig, feeding it on leftovers and scraps. Today their feed is more rationalized, mixing polenta with other high-energy grains. The industry, however, feeds pigs on other less valuable grains, obtaining larger production but of a less flavoursome meat. Better quality pork is, however, still sometimes obtained from herds partly fed on the whey by-products of cheesemaking, and pigs lucky enough to graze in the wild and consume foods like acorns are said to give much of the flavour to better prosciutto.