Alan Davidson

Warthog

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

warthog Phachochoerus aethiopicus, well described by Burton (1962) as a ‘hideously grotesque long-legged pig’. His description continues:

Skin slate- or clay-coloured, naked except for a few bristly hairs. Mane of long bristly hairs on head continued along mid-line of back. Head long, broad, with long blunt warts (excrescences strengthened with gristle: no obvious function). Muzzle broad with upward-curving tusks.

This animal may attain a length of 1.5 m (5'), so there is plenty of meat on an adult specimen. This may be cooked in any of the ways suitable for pork, but it does not taste like pork.