Then, after strict federal regulations cleared up the trichinosis problem and changes in breeding and feeding lowered the fat content, pork lovers cried that the critter had lost all of its flavor.

Mary Ann Vitale discounts the nay-sayers, past and present, preferring to focus on one of the best qualities of the modern pig: its versatility. Which is exactly what the owner of La Jolla's La Taverna restaurant and Sorella Italian deli did at a recent cooking class at Great News! in Pacific Beach.

She used fontina cheese, fresh rosemary, orange marmalade, sauteed apples and paprika to create five pork entrees in a two-hour class.

“See?” she exclaimed as she cut thin slices of grilled pork tenderloin that had been rubbed with orange zest, fresh sage and chopped garlic. “That's the perfect color – it's getting pinker and pinker as we move to the center.”

There were a few stifled gasps from the students, some of whom clearly remembered the days of cooking pork until it resembled shoe leather. But Vitale quickly assured them that new guidelines call for cooking pork to 140 degrees instead of the 185 degrees formerly recommended.

Source: SignOnSanDiego