Thread: Wild pork

Hello - Thinking about growing up in the Pelorus Valley (Marlborough) with the Three Oh thread reminded me how much we liked wild pork - it was literally the "prince of meats" up there, we ate a lot of it, and so did everyone else we knew or that Dad gave it too.

On moving among the Nth Cantabs at secondary school I found their enthusiasm a bit more muted, and when we shifted to Southland, hardly anybody valued wild pork. I've tried (Southland) wild pork several times since and consider it pretty mediocre.

I know pork is very inclined to take on a flavour from whats in its diet, but what varies so much in a wild pigs diet that causes these regional differences in it (and that's if I'm not imagining the differences, but they seem real enough to me)?

What is Nth Island wild pork like - any variations up there ??