Pork is a widely consumed meat that has a distinctive flavor profile. With its rich, slightly sweet taste, pork resembles few other meats, which leads many to wonder – what meat tastes like pork? Let’s explore what gives pork its signature flavor and see how it compares to other types of meat.
An Overview of Pork’s Taste and Texture
Pork from pigs is classified as “red meat” and comes from muscles like the loin, ham, shoulder, and belly. In terms of taste, pork is described as:
- Mildly sweet
- Earthy, nutty, or gamey
- Juicy and succulent when cooked properly
- Distinct scent reminiscent of a barnyard
The taste can vary slightly depending on the cut. Tenderloin is the mildest tasting while shoulder has the deepest porkiest flavor. The flesh ranges from light pink to dark red in color when raw. When cooked pork takes on a firmer texture similar to beef or chicken.
So what gives pork this unique aroma and flavor? Let’s look at the compounds responsible.
The Flavor Chemistry of Pork
Over 400 volatile chemical compounds have been identified that contribute to pork’s one-of-a-kind taste. Here are some of the most important:
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Androstenone – This steroid is responsible for the strong piggy/urine scent Perceived differently by different people,
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Phenylacetic acid – Gives cured pork products like ham their signature honey-like sweetness.
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Creatine – Imparts a meaty, savory umami flavor. Abundant in pork.
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Indole – Contributes to the barnyard aroma. Also found in aged beef.
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Skatole – Has a fecal, manure-like aroma at high concentrations.
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Tetrahydrothiophene – Provides a roasted, grilled meat flavor.
How Pork Compares to Beef
Pork is most often compared to beef when it comes to flavor. Here’s how they stack up:
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Beef has a more minerally, iron-rich taste from myoglobin. Pork is sweeter.
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Beef has more earthy, gamey notes while pork can have barnyard aromas.
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Pork has a finer grain and more tender texture. Beef is coarser and denser.
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Fat marbling plays a big role in flavor for both meats.
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Cooking methods like smoking and curing bring out new flavors in pork (ham) and beef (pastrami).
While their flavors overlap in the savory, umami realm, pork ultimately has a sweeter, milder taste compared to beef.
Contrasting Pork with Chicken and Turkey
Let’s move from red meat to white meat:
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Chicken and turkey breast meat is much milder than pork.
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White poultry meat has a delicate, subtle flavor while pork is richer.
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Thigh meat of chicken or turkey is closer to pork, but still not as fatty.
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Pork has meatier, juicier properties similar to dark poultry meat.
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Pork overloaded the senses more than chicken or turkey overall.
So pork packs a bigger flavor punch than the delicate white meat of poultry. The legs come closer, but lack pork’s unctuousness.
Comparing Pork to Lamb and Goat
How about pork vs other red meats like lamb and goat?
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Lamb has a sweeter, more delicate flavor than pork does.
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Goat has a distinct grassy, gamey taste that pork does not.
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Pork has a more tender texture and finer grain than either.
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Lamb and goat offer different nutritional profiles than higher fat pork.
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Cuts like lamb shank or goat leg need long braising unlike pork.
So while pork, lamb and goat all provide savory flavors, pork’s sweetness and delicate texture stands apart.
Key Differences Between Pork and Fish
Seafood, of course, has its own entirely distinct range of flavors:
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Fish is lighter, flakier and delicate compared to the heartiness of pork.
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Oily fish like salmon and tuna are closer in fattiness, but still have a markedly fishy flavor.
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Shellfish contain some similar sweet, briny notes to cured pork products like ham or bacon.
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Tuna, with its meaty, umami-rich properties, probably comes closest overall to pork.
So while certain parallels can be drawn in texture and flavor compounds, at the end of the day fish is its own unique thing, quite distinct from any pork product.
What About Bacon?
No discussion of pork flavor would be complete without mentioning bacon! Some key traits:
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Salt, smoke and time curing give bacon a salty, woodsy flavor unlike fresh pork cuts.
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The high fat content and crisp cooking create a highly craveable taste and texture.
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Flavor can range from mild to assertively smoky depending on curing method.
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Turkey or beef bacon aim to mimic pork bacon but don’t quite capture the overall flavor profile.
So in the world of pork, bacon stands tall with its own uniquely irresistible characteristics.
While pork may share some general qualities with other meats like beef, lamb, goat or poultry, its flavor profile remains incomparable. Elements like sweetness, umami savoriness, noticeable fat, barnyard aromas and a supple texture come together to create an overall eating experience that just screams pork. A few meats may weakly resemble pork depending on the cut or preparation method, but nothing else truly mimics it across the board. At the end of the day, pork tastes like pork – and hungry eaters around the world are grateful for that!
What Does Human Meat Taste Like?
On a technical level, human flesh is red meat, and most people say it has the texture of beef. Stories from people who have eaten human flesh, on the other hand, call the taste much more subtle.
In the 1920s, author and reporter William Seabrook went to West Africa and wrote in his book Jungle Ways that he met a tribe that ate people and tried human flesh.
However, Seabrook later admitted that the cannibal tribe he met never trusted him enough to let him take part in their traditions, which makes his story less likely to be true.
Instead, Seabrook said that after his trip, he got some human meat from a friend at a Paris hospital morgue and cooked it himself. This is what he said human tastes like:
No matter if Seabrook really did eat a body he got from a hospital or not, his account is still one of the most detailed, at least from an academic point of view.
While some cannibals wrote about this disgusting meal from the point of view of a journalist or academic, others did so because they were hungry for human flesh and couldn’t stop.
Human flesh is technically considered red meat, and most cannibals say it tastes like pork with a consistency of beef — though others have compared it to everything from raw tuna to roast turkey.
Thomas Harris’s 1981 book Red Dragon introduced readers to Hannibal Lecter, a man who eats people and is known for having his friends over for dinner. Later, Harris’s sequel book The Silence of the Lambs and the movie based on it made the fictional cannibal even more well-known, and some fans were left wondering, “What does human taste like?”
Obviously, it would be better not to put this question to the test. There is no such thing as cannibalism in the United States, but the way that people get or eat human meat is definitely illegal. Plus, it’s still rather frowned upon by most people.
Still, that hasn’t stopped some from attempting to learn what this most taboo of meats tastes like. It turns out that some real cannibals have talked about their experiences with this “meat” to satisfy the curiosity of people who will never try it for themselves.
So, what do the experts have to say about human meat?
Why billions of people won’t eat pork (or why we don’t know)
FAQ
Which meat is most similar to pork?
What is a good substitute for pork taste?
Does beef taste like pork?
What is a good substitute for pork chops?
Does pork brain taste like pork?
The site notes that pork brain doesn’t taste like pork per se, but the flavor does have a certain meaty quality. The brain is very rich and high in fat. According to My Chinese Recipes, Chinese cooks often use pork brain in various ways, including in soup, grilled, fried, and stewed.
Are pork steaks good for blood sugar levels?
Pork steaks are not related with increasing the amount of blood sugar levels. It’s occurs due to its low level of carbohydrates. However it’s not so much advisable eating this kind of steaks, due to its amount of saturated fats.
What does pork jowl taste like?
The pieces of lean meat in the jowl also give it a complex porcine taste. Some of the most famous pork jowl applications are guanciale and pancetta, as Due’ Cochina Italiana reports. The site says that Italian cooks transform the cut by curing the jowl with salt and various spices.
What does human meat taste like?
Stomach-Churning Anecdotes From Notorious Cannibals Human flesh is technically considered red meat, and most cannibals say it tastes like pork with a consistency of beef — though others have compared it to everything from raw tuna to roast turkey.