Pork may be the other white meat, but it has long been overlooked as a versatile item on restaurant menus.
Restaurant owners go porkless at their own peril, as pork can be used to a greater extent on menus, especially considering the rising prices of beef, chicken, along with wheat and grains.
That was the theme of the Westchester-Rockland Restaurant Association”™s monthly meeting last week, appropriately titled “A taste of pork.”
Kosher it wasn”™t.
Ronald Stytzer, president of Antun”™s of Westchester in Elmsford who prepared many of the pork dishes featured at the meeting, said restaurateurs should get creative in the ways they serve pork.
“Pork is a very profitable item these days, especially considering the price of beef, veal and chicken,” he said. “You should try and get it out into the restaurant.”
That sentiment was echoed by Mitchell Stachowicz, a senior territory manager for Hatfield Quality Meats, a pork distributor based in Hatfield, Penn.
He said the price of pork remains “pretty moderate,” especially in lieu of increasing prices of other commodities.
“The price (of pork) should stay pretty consistent over the next five to six months,” he said. “There”™s a glut of hogs out there.”
According to CNN Money, as of March 19, pig prices were about a third less than cattle prices.
Stytzer said pork doesn”™t find its way into as many items on as menu as it could, and urged the restaurant owners to take advantage of its versatility.
“Use your own creativity,” he said. “Take a regular product, be creative and make it more exciting.”
Stytzer cooked up some examples of different ways pork could be used that were sampled during the meeting, including ham-infused waffles.
Stytzer”™s son, Rich Stytzer, chapter president of the Westchester Rockland Restaurant Association, hoped those in attendance would learn some new tricks.
“Take some of these ideas with you and use them in your restaurant and home,” he said.
