{"id":17777,"date":"2019-10-22T19:44:57","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T17:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/test\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T18:11:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T16:11:42","slug":"test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/test\/","title":{"rendered":"The Happiest Pig in Limburg"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":{"categorie":33,"afbeelding":7612,"auteur":"Hans Moleman","fotografie":"Jonathan Vos","contentbuilder":[{"acf_fc_layout":"tekst","tekst":"They must be the happiest pigs in Limburg, the Bentheimers on the Heerdeberg estate. No, in the whole country. Just imagine: their own free-range garden the size of a large football pitch, spacious shelters \u2013 and as a bonus also the most beautiful view of Maastricht. La vita \u00e8 bella in the pig field on the western flank of the Margraten plateau, high above Heer."},{"acf_fc_layout":"tekst_foto","tekst":"oftly grunting, the old guard \u2013 mottled black-beige specimens nearly two metres long \u2013 lies in the loose earth, while the youngsters a bit further on shuffle around and make curious sprints to the fence whenever a visitor appears there. The Bentheimers are not just any pigs. They are real primal animals, which somewhat resemble the pigs the Romans brought to these regions almost two thousand years ago. On the Heerdeberg they are cherished, only to end up, after a beautiful life, on the plates of the estate\u2019s guests. Butcher-cum-chef Coenraad, who together with his Sanne runs eatery Bij de Paters there, guarantees juicy Bentheimer meatballs, chops, and sausages.\r\n<h3>Useful Omnivores<\/h3>\r\nThe pig is a striking example of the changes that the Romans once brought about in the hilly land of Limburg. They were colonial occupiers, almost two thousand years ago, but as often happens with foreign powers: they also brought useful things. Also in terms of food. For example, they introduced cherry trees here, walnut, chestnut and plum trees. As far as livestock was concerned, the influence was even greater: they brought Roman chickens, cows, and pigs.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;","foto":8314},{"acf_fc_layout":"foto_tekst","foto":8317,"tekst":"In this way the Romans ensured that the roughly 200 thousand indigenous people who at that time inhabited the area that is now called the Netherlands \u2013 there were not yet any more people living in the swampy delta of Rhine and Meuse \u2013 gradually saw their diet change.\r\n\r\nWhen thinking of pigs, the image you still have in your mind\u2019s eye today is of many animals in a long shed with a concrete floor. On the Heerdeberg you see them once again in their element; by origin they are in fact real outdoor animals. As omnivores, pigs clean up the surroundings, from insects and carcasses to acorns, twigs, weeds, and leaves. By nature they are useful: with their strong snouts they turn over the soil so that new plant species get a chance.\r\n\r\nIn the past, already in Roman times, you would find pigs in almost every household. In every village there was at least one swineherd who, early in the morning, blowing his horn, walked past the houses to pick up the pigs one by one. He then drove the whole crowd to places in nature where food could be found.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;"},{"acf_fc_layout":"tekst_witruimte","tekst":"<h3>Fruity Heritage<\/h3>\r\nFor South Limburg, the fruit cultivation that the Romans introduced has proved to be of lasting value. Cherries, walnuts, chestnuts, and plums were previously still unknown in this region. Now these fruits have been part of the regional cuisine for centuries \u2013 and especially the cherry still manages today to remain a highly valued summer fruit.\r\n\r\nOf the cherry it is known that it was once brought to Southern and Northern Europe by a Roman field commander from a region in Anatolia on the Black Sea \u2013 now Turkey. Turkey was and is cherry country par excellence: it is now the largest producer in the world, with an annual harvest of more than half a million tons of the small red fruits.\r\n\r\nIn South Limburg the traditional cherry trees \u2013 the tall standard trees \u2013 have slowly but surely disappeared from the landscape over the past century, apart from a few beautiful hobby orchards. It became too expensive to pick the large trees and to protect them against birds. However, cherry growing has bounced back: in the last decades the traditional tall standard fruit has been almost completely replaced by more manageable low-stem trees."},{"acf_fc_layout":"slideshow","slideshow":[8320]},{"acf_fc_layout":"tekst_quote","tekst":"<h3>Dark Red Giants<\/h3>\r\nYou see these low trees, for example, in the hills just east of Maastricht, near villages such as Bemelen and Cadier en Keer.\r\nAt the crossroads just outside Bemelen, on the side road to Cadier, stands a beautiful field of low cherry trees belonging to the Leesens family, who own the Bemelerhof on the other side of the village.\r\nAt the family business, a characteristic carr\u00e9 farm dating from 1922, fruit juices and jam are made and sold per bottle and jar in the farm shop.\r\n\r\nThe Bemelerhof also has a special product: wine brewed from their own cherries, aged in the cellar. Red wine with a special cherry-like finish, which according to the growers suits a summery meal very well.\r\n\r\nWhat are actually the tastiest cherries? Those are the Kordia \u2014 large, deep dark red giants with a fine flavour and an excellent bite.\r\n\u201cPeople always ask for them in summer,\u201d says Mrs Leesens. \u201cAre the Kordias already there?\u201d\r\n\r\nBut this favourite fruit ripens late in the cherry season, which begins in July. So real lovers must be patient.","quote":"\u201cFor South Limburg, the fruit cultivation introduced by the Romans has proved to be of lasting value.\u201d","naam":"Hans Moleman"},{"acf_fc_layout":"foto_tekst","foto":8371,"tekst":"<h3>Roman Rooster<\/h3>\r\nAnd the chickens \u2014 what about them?\r\nBefore the Romans came to South Limburg, no poultry roamed this region. The Romans brought their own specimens. An authentic Roman chicken can be recognised by its legs: they have five toes instead of four. Over the centuries, that extra toe did disappear here.\r\n\r\nIn Klimmen you can see what ancient poultry looked like. There, at Villa de Proosdij, chickens and roosters of a primal breed from Roman times roam \u2014 animals with five toes.\r\nThe Roman roosters are especially impressive: large proud animals with raven-black plumage.\r\n\r\nRoman South Limburg is particularly tangible at De Proosdij.\r\nThe land around the villa was once part of one of the largest Roman estates in Europe, Villa Voerendaal.\r\nVarious finds, such as nails, pottery and roof tiles, point to ancient activity here.\r\nNow the villa on the Klimmenderweg is dedicated to the Roman past. The Habets family has laid out Roman gardens, which can be visited on weekends. After 2,000 years, the garden of Pliny the Elder blooms again, just like the fruit trees the Romans brought to South Limburg. Own bees collect nectar from ancient plants, and the vineyard offers a beautiful view of Heerlen, which in Roman times was a significant fortified town."},{"acf_fc_layout":"tekst_foto","tekst":"<h3>Warm Wine<\/h3>\r\nDoes wine cultivation in Limburg also date from Roman times?\r\n\r\nProbably not.\r\nBecause the Romans preferred to bring their own wine ready-made from the warmer regions of their empire. Only in the year 968, hundreds of years after the Romans had left Limburg, was wine cultivation first mentioned in official documents \u2014 an inventory list of Queen Gerberga of Saxony \u2014 referring to vineyards near Maastricht.\r\n\r\nThat vineyards have existed in Limburg for over a thousand years is logical: the region is favourable due to its slopes and fertile loess soil.\r\nFrom Maastricht, viticulture spread along the Geul and Jeker rivers through South Limburg.\r\nIn the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the hills around the Meuse and Geul valleys were largely covered with vines and Dutch viticulture was at its peak.\r\n\r\nAfter that it gradually declined. Wine faced competition from beer \u2014 and after 1540 the climate changed. It became colder in the Netherlands, a so-called Little Ice Age arose, and the Eighty Years\u2019 War came on top of that.\r\nThe final blow came from a special combination: the grape louse struck and Napoleon prohibited \u2014 to protect the French wine industry \u2014 the cultivation of wine in the Low Countries, including Limburg.","foto":8374},{"acf_fc_layout":"tekst","tekst":"<h3>Stroberger White<\/h3>\r\nFifty years ago the time was ripe for a revival.\r\nThe Apostelhoeve in Maastricht began planting vineyards, thus restoring a centuries-old tradition in the region.\r\nToday there are fifteen commercial vineyards in South Limburg, and at least as many hobby vineyards.\r\n\r\nSuch a hobby vineyard can be found in Bemelen, where Domein de Stroberg produces the Stroberger Witte: Limburg country wine from the same village where the cherry wine is made.\r\nThe vines grow on a sloping field along the footpath that climbs steeply to the Bemelerberg.\r\n\r\nWhere can you buy the Stroberger?\r\nAsk around in the village and you will eventually find out.\r\nAnd otherwise, you leave Bemelen with a bottle of real Limburg cherry wine. Also special."}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17777"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17794,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17777\/revisions\/17794"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"category","href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}