In 1987, pork producers in the USA along with their industry association, The National Pork Board, and their advertising/public relations firm, conceived of a brilliant marketing strategy designed to increase consumer acceptance of their product.  Pork® The Other White Meat® was the brand that they developed and introduced in a nationwide PR campaign.

Historically, pork had been looked upon as being a fat-laden product, as compared to chicken, particularly skinless breast meat. Although pork consumption appears to have remained fairly steady since the start of the campaign, at least through 2004, beef consumption has declined, while chicken consumption continues to rise.

Besides having a lower fat content than most cuts of beef, processed pork (primarily boneless chops) and processed chicken (primarily boneless, skinless breasts) have another aspect in common, in my opinion. Both are basically bland and boring. Their redeeming feature is that they benefit from a variety of sauces, herbs and spices to make them enjoyable. See our recipe for Pork Chops Braised in Calvados, Caramelized Apples and Raisins.

Pork marries very well with many different fruits. Thinking about this and finding fresh, ripe mangoes in the market the other day, we remembered that we still had some boneless, center-cut, pork chops in the freezer. An inspection of the pantry revealed a jar of apricot preserve and a bottle of cognac, fresh ginger is usually on hand as well. So thinking about all of this, we came up with the idea of Broiled Pork Chops with Apricot-Mango Chutney.  Grilled pork chops, which surely would have been just as delicious, were not possible that evening due to a torrential rain storm. So check out the recipe and let us know what you think.