Eating Nose to Tail


 
The fat has been curing for a month.  It's slightly hard, and smells like, well, fat.
Picture
Cured back fat.
I don't have any walnuts, nor do I have and nice fresh bread so I have not tasted it yet.  I've put it in a ziploc bag, with it's non-wet salt and dried spices and placed it back in the fridge.

I'm more than willing to entertain advice about how exactly I should consume this lovely fat.  I've heard that sometimes lardo replaces pancetta or guanciale in carbonara, so that's on my list.  And of course grilled on bread, and wrapped around walnuts.  But this is a rather large piece of fat, so any creative suggestions forways of using it are very much welcome.
 


Comments

Amanda

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:30:22

I would definatly look up a carbonara, my other favourite is making Acadian Seafood chowder (Use the fat as scrunchins)

 

Mark Trucker

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:37:24

Deep fry the entire slab.

 

Steve

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:12:48

First, I was thinking cracklins, but won't it ultimately render to nothing but liquid fat? Maybe a paper-thin slice of the fat topped with equally thin apple and a bit of walnut? Or you could set it out so that it comes to room temperature, shave it thinly, and let it melt on your tongue.

 

Sydney

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:26:56

@ Amanda - You definitely need to share that chowder recipe with me, I"m not even sure what a scrunchin is...

@ Mark Trucker - I think it might melt, but I admire the thought :D

@ Steve - I like the idea of a paper thin slice with walnut and apple, I wonder is I could give it a quick sear to crisp it up. The idea of a cured pork fat strip is a good idea. I'm really hoping it took on some of the flavour of the dried spices that were in the cure.

 

Amanda

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:50:38

Dice the fat into 1/2 inch cubes, pan fry with garlic & onionn in a stockpot until the fat is crispy and delicious. Remove onions, fat and garlic from pot. Add water and make stock with the left over fat and veggie bits. Make chowder like you normally would from here. When the chowder is done you sprinkle the crispy bits of fat ontop of the soup. yum yum yum

 

amanda

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:51:50

"Add water and make stock with the left over fat and veggie bits"

Sorry that should read "Add water and make stock with left over grease in the pot..."

way too tired to be giving food advice

 

Sydney

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:38:04

Thanks Amanda!

Sounds like a wicked fall dinner :)

 

Monica

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:26:25

Look for Romanian and Ungarian recipes for enjoying this fat. I'm from Romania and I love cured fat. It's even better when it's smoked. You can marinate it in a garlic brine and cover it in a mix of hot and smoked paparika. And eat it AS IS with a good country-style bread, red onion (just cut it in quarters and salt it) or garlic (whole cloves is the traditional way we enjoy this in Romania). To melt it down, pair it with vodka, or even better, with Slibowitza -a Serbian-made spirit you can find at LCBO.

 

Sydney

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:05:25

I love the idea of marinading it, especially with the smoked paprika. It's funny you mention Slibowitza, my great Grandfather used to make it. Next time I'm in TO I'm going to have to get a bottle. I haven't seen it in Boston.

 

Monica

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:08:36

Are you from Kitchener-Waterloo area? I've just discovered an amazing restaurant there - The Two Goblets. It's Romanian-Transylvanian-Hungarian-Austrian ( :)) and they have a delicious tripe soup (the national dish in Romania - but be aware, not even all Romanians like it.) Too bad they don't have cured fat, but there's a store in Toronto, European Saussage House, on Norfinch, and they sell incredible smoked cured fat. It's the authentic stuff, I can guarantee.

 

Sydney

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:08:25

I'm a Toronto native, but I now live in Boston. I visit Toronto frequently though, so next time I will absolutely check it out.

Smoked cured fat sounds amazing. What's the name of the tripe soup?

I'm not normally in the Kitchener-Waterloo area I'm afraid, but I've got a good friend who is. Maybe I'll send her :D

 

Monica

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:23:09

It's simply called "Tripe Soup" and they mention in the menu that it's the Romanian national dish. It's worth a visit when you come to Toronto for more than 2 days.

 

Chris

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:19:56

Monica, I lived and worked with the Romanian army in Afghanistan. Since then I have been looking for şunca. Any ideas where in the NJ/NY area I can find some.I loved it along with Slibwitza. Or some tsuica or palincă..

 

Sydney

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:52:17

Hi Chris - to be honest I'm not sure what some of the words in your post mean. If you want to describe what your talking about I can look into it for you.

 

Monica

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:30:46

Hi Chris,

Sorry, I haven't visited this blog in a while. I live in Toronto, so I have no idea where you could find sunca (cured smoked fat) in NY/NJ. Look for any Romanian or Hungarian deli store, especially in the winter (around Christmas would be best since smoked fat is a must in the holiday menu). I've found a double-smoked version in a Hungarian deli in Toronto - yummy! Tzuica and Palinca are the Romanian equivalents of Slibowita - it's a plum spirit, very flavourful. Palinca is usually stronger than Tzuica - it's the same thing, but distilled twice.

 

Nicolas Aithadi

Sun, 09 May 2010 16:01:33

I would use it in place of lardo. Usually I use lardo to sear meat before braising. Another cool thing to do, would be to render the fat slowly and mix it with Tapioca Maltodextrin to create Lardo powder that can be used to sprinkle on salad or other dishes.

Check my website for Rolled Ox tongue.

n.

 



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