Pork

Pork, often called boar in Faerûn, was the general term for the meat of pigs and boars eaten across the Realms. It was a popular focal point of human and dwarf cuisines from Faerûn and Kara-Tur, and was also found in halfling and Zakharan cooking.

Description
The meat of pigs and boars had a number of different names depending on the type of cut and whether the meat had been cured. Popular discrete cuts of pork included roasts, chops, loins, and ribs. Cured versions, usually achieved with salting or smoking, were durable foods that would not spoil over the winter or during long trips. These included salt pork, bacon, and ham.

Whole Pigs
Whole animals were generally eaten roasted, and were referred to as "roast pigs" or "roast boars". They were popular at inns and taverns    They were often the focal point of festivals and feasts in places like Damara, the Moonshae Isles, and the Shou Lung.

Roasts
In Faerûn, pork roasts were often scored to allow for cloves or garlic to be embedded in the meat during cooking, while in west Zakhara they might be flavored with cardamom. In places like the Vast, roasts were often paired with carrots, lentils, peas, parsnips, onions, or squash. In the North and the Eastern Heartlands, roasts were served with things like green vegetables, potatoes, parsnips, turnips, and radishes.

Salt Pork
Salt pork was a cured preparation common in the Faerûnean Heartlands, the Lands of Intrigue,  and the North. It was common as a staple during long winters and as rations for adventurers, sailors, and soldiers. Salt pork's durability made it popular in places where pigs could normally not be raised, such as in the Underdark.

Bacon
Bacon was a cured preparation generally found in northern and western Faerûn, and it was particularly common as part of a dawnfry or morningfeast.

Ham
Ham was a cured preparation usually made using the meat from the leg or hock.

Stews
Pork was featured in hearty stews across Faerûn, paired with other meats, and with vegetables like onions, leeks, and greens as well as with spices. Boar meat was used in wildsage stew, eaten by farmers in the Vast.

Mince
The meat was sometimes eaten minced, often as a filling for dumplings, pies,  pastries,   and other dishes. Minced pork was one of the three meats most commonly found in a baeranth pie, in "jack wyvern tail" (meant to mimic the flavor of wyvern meat), and in tavern "steak". It was also a key ingredient in Delzoun meatballs, known as "tide me overs".

Sausage
Everything from fresh pork to pork fat to pigs' brains were used to make sausage. Often these might be mixed with various other meats or other additions like nuts. Pig bladders were sometimes used as sausage casings.

Pork Fat
Pork fat was used for cooking and to make pâté. Rancid pork fat was boiled into a stew and fed to prisoners in Raven's Bluff.

The fatty skin of the pig (pork rind) could be fried to make "cracklings" and could also be used as a material component in the grease spell.

Other
In parts of northwest Faerûn, pig organs were used to make gravy and pig joints were eaten doused in gravy.

Pig's heads were a delicacy in Amn.

Availability
Pork was eaten across Toril, from dumplings eaten by the poor folk of Amn to suckling pigs at the tables of the nobility in the Cold Lands to roasts in the Pearl Cities of Zahkara to steamed buns in Kara-Tur to boar dishes in Laerakond. It was bought and sold, both fresh and cured, in city markets like those in Ravens Bluff and Arabel.

Pork was a common food at inns in Faerûn, and was often served spicy in the south (such as in Tethyr ) and more mildly seasoned in the north (such as in Waterdeep).

Cured preparations of pork could be bought in bulk, and owing to their longevity, they were popular even in places where fresh pork was hard to acquire, such as in Skullport and Calimshan. Salt pork was one of the most popular exports out of Featherdale, where it was famously cured with minerals from the Deeping Stream.

Notable Locations
Inns, taverns, and restaurants notable for serving pork included:
 * The Bargewright Inn in the Dessarin Valley served hearty but plain pork roasts with generous sides of potatoes, parsnips, turnips, and radishes.
 * The Blushing Mermaid in Baldur's Gate was known to serve whole roast pigs as well as a pork platter with thyme and mushrooms.
 * The Blushing Mermaid was also known to serve whole roast pigs, despite otherwise specializing in seafood.
 * The Boar's Head Inn in Raven's Bluff was known as a place to find all kinds of pork products, from ham and leek soup to sizzling bacon.
 * The Fall of Stars in Harrowdale Town served whole roast boar and a stew known as Boar and Chestnut Deep Pot.
 * Hriiat Fine Pastries in Waterdeep was known for savory "bite-pies", including one filled with pork.
 * The Inn of the Dripping Dagger featured several pork products, including chops and ribs for 1 sp, bacon and rolls for 6 cp, pork pies for 1 cp, and salt pork with mild or spicy beans for 4 cp.
 * The Jovial Juggler in Beregost served whole roast boar.
 * The Lonesome Tankard in Eveningstar served roast pork with boiled turnips and potatoes.
 * The Old Skull Inn in Shadowdale served roast pork with boiled potatoes.
 * The Owlroost Head in Purskul served dumplings filled with minced pork.
 * The Painted Boat restaurant in Ravens Bluff offered barbecued pork as a specialty
 * The Pampered Traveler inn in Waterdeep made various roasts (including pork) available buffet-style in the mornings for its guests
 * Phoaraudo's in Raven's Bluff served pigs' ears as a delicacy.
 * The Raging Lion inn in Waterdeep made two pork stews nightly, one highly spiced and one meant to allow the flavor of the meat to shine through.
 * The Sailors' Own tavern on Sail Street in Waterdeep served roast pork as well as pork stewed with onions and greens.
 * The Stag Triumphant in Mosstone served whole roast boar.
 * Starnar's Cozy Cove Rest in Tulmene served a spicy pork stew that was thick, sticky, and brown.
 * The Stone Stallion in Amphail served pork roasts every third night, drenched in fatty gravy and accompanied either by green vegetables in summer or potatoes and parsnips in winter.
 * Tulmene's Tower in Tulmene used minced pork as a stuffing for their signature preparation of giant squid.
 * Two Brothers' Butchery in Ravens Bluff sold a wide array of pork products, including specialty cuts and pig carcasses.
 * Wyrmkindler Sausage Works in Cormyr used venison, pork, and pork fat in their stag sausage.

Pork could also be found for sale at the Nowhere Inn on the Infinite Staircase.

History
Pork was a staple food in north Faerûn since the days of ancient Netheril.

High demand among the nobles of Chessenta made pork one of their most important imports as of the mid-to-late 14 century DR owing to the fact that few pigs were raised in the realm itself.

In the late 15 century DR, the merchant Alsimur Droon manufactured a shortage of salt pork along the Sword Coast, allowing him to capitalize on the desperate demand.

Trivia
The flavor and texture of pork was said to be similar to the meat of wyverns, rothé, and subterranean lizards.

Pork was one of the favorite foods of the average beholder. Perytons were not over fond of it.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Cities of Bone: "Suitable Donations" • For Duty and Deity • Marco Volo: Journey • House of Cards • The Fiends of Tethyr • Scourge of the Sword Coast • Search for the Diamond Staff • Web of the Spider Queen
 * Treasure Hunt • Ochimo The Spirit Warrior Haunted Halls of Eveningstar • Shadowdale • Dead in Thay
 * Novels
 * Stormlight • Spellfire
 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
 * Chaos in the City of Splendors
 * Chaos in the City of Splendors