Special thanks are due to the Euskal Abereak association (supporting Basque heritage breeds of animals), to the international Slow Food movement, to a big bunch of Slow chefs, and above all to a great veterinarian, friend and tireless fellow-traveler. We've been through very, very hard times together, and we've also shared many great moments together. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

We put our defence of biodiversity into practice. That's why you'll find sheep and cows grazing in our fields in addition to our pigs. For the really steep bits, we have our goats!

A commercial brand needs to be clean, concise and unmistakable.

This brand is not clean or concise — you can only really get to know it by “the facts of flavour”.

Traditionally, there had been three indigenous breeds of pig in the Basque Country until approximately 1974, when the last known individuals of the Baztan and Chato Vitoriano breeds disappeared. With the extinction of these two breeds, the only one remaining was the Euskal Txerria, or Basque Pio Negro.

“Euskal Txerria” pigs are known for their enormous, floppy ears that fall over their eyes, even reaching their snouts. Their ears may drag along the ground as they forage for chestnuts, hazelnuts, beech nuts, or as they just snack on a bit of the fresh grass that abounds throughout their extensive domain. Perhaps it is these big, floppy ears that have made them develop their friendly and easy-going character.

Our farm, Elola, is set on 54 hectares of beautiful green fields filled with ryegrass, white and purple clover, mountain grasses and alfalfa, nettle roots, rumex and the nuts and seeds from our centenarian native evergreens. This makes up the greatest part of the diet of our happy hogs.