Tayassu tajacu
“(…) wild pig, meat with the taste of the forest and freedom”: that is how writer Jorge Amado defines the collared peccary in
his book Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands. Known as catitu in the Northeast and Midwest regions of Brazil – and javelina, musk hog and Mexican hog in English – this wild animal’s meat is pinkish, slightly sweet and low in fat (30% less than pork meat); therefore, it tends to be drier. Best if roasted at low temperatures, and very slowly. There are breeders all over Brazil, especially in the South, Southeast and Midwest regions. The collared peccary is different from the white-lipped peccary, another hog-type wild animal, larger and bearing a tuft of white hairs around the neck, with redder meat and stronger flavor.
