Traces of the Black pig tribe in the Hellenic area date back to 5500 BC
Sitagri, Drama, Greece
Homeric age
Sparta-Black Broth
Spread of the Black Pig
Period of Alexander the Great
OF THE GREEK BLACK PIG
The Black Pig is an ancient inhabitant of the Mediterranean. Traces of the tribe in the Hellenic area date back to approximately 5500 BC, according to archaeological findings (bones of a domesticated Black Pig) found in a settlement in Sitagri, Drama. It is believed to be the first domesticated pig in Europe.
Homer mentions Eumaeus, Odysseus’ faithful swineherd, who raised Black Pigs which were eaten by Penelope’s suitors that preferred the large and fat pigs.
In the famous Spartan Black Broth (Melas Zomos), the main ingredient was Black Pig’s blood.
The Black Pig spread across the known world of that period due to the colonies of the ancient Greeks in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions.
The ancient Macedonians believed that in order for boys to become adults, they had to hunt the Black Pig of Olympus at the age of 15.
During the preparation of Alexander the Great’s campaign in 334 BC, it is estimated that approximately 70,000 Black Pigs were slaughtered, salted in the salt marshes of Cape Atherída in Pydna, and loaded onto Alexander the Great’s triremes to feed his 50,000 soldiers during his great campaign in the East. It was the same ripening-preserving process that was followed for the famous cured meat of antiquity “Melan Akrokolion” (today’s prosciutto).
Therefore, the Black Pig of Olympus is an indigenous treasure which is part of our historical and cellular memory.
BLACK PIG IN MODERN GREECE
The Black Pig was the pig that fed Greece. Until the 1960s, they were bred in the Greek countryside, meeting the needs of the household agricultural economy or as a means of exchanging products in the context of the barter economy.
Towards the end of the 1960s, organized pig breeding developed with the introduction of new, genetically improved breeds from Europe. The new improved breeds are clearly more efficient than the Black Pig, exhibit faster weight gain (110 Kg at 5 months compared to 100 Kg at approximately 11 months in the Black Pig), as well double number of newborns (24-28 piglets per year compared to 12-14 in the Black Pig). A fact that gradually led to the marginalization and partial disappearance of our national pig.
BLACK PIG AND FOTIADIS FARM
The revival of the Greek Black Pig was a moral obligation of the Fotiadis farm as this species of pig was bred from 1925 until 1998. In 2010, Fotiadis Farm participated in the transnational European program “QUBIC – Animal Breeding: Quality Biodiversity Innovation Competitiveness”. Our country, Greece, was represented by the Institute of Applied Biosciences at the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) with the team of Dr. Argiriou Anagnostis. As part of the program, it was scientifically documented that the Greek Black Pig is the “father” of the Mediterranean Black Pigs. Taking up the suggestion of CERTH, the Fotiadis family bought 11 certified sows, whose DNA simulates the DNA of the ancient Greek Black Pig. Thus, new horizons were opened in the traditional breeding of the Black Pig, in the rescue of the indigenous Greek breed and in the production of high quality products from its meat.
SEMI-EXTENSIVE BREEDING
The pig breeding is semi-extensive. Females and males live in pig breeding facilities of 2,400 sq.m. From the 5th month, their offspring are taken to a controlled pasture area of 300,000 sq.m., where they live for 5-7 months until their final utilization.
The result of this semi-extensive breeding model, where the welfare rules, as defined by nature, are respected, is the production of high-quality meat with high nutritional value.
