After my latest Midnight Snack, I think I know how to say lardo in Polish:
smalec. I found this small tub of
Smalec z miesem in a small grocery in the suburban Long Island town where I grew up, which never had a Polish presence to my knowledge. The English translation for this mysterious meat spread is seasoned pork lard with cured pork added. And not just any cured pork, but pork dewlap, or the skin and meat below the hog's chin, pig wattle, if you will. I'm sure there are people who think that products that contain pork dewlap should be emblazoned with red stickers bearing the legend, "WARNING: CONTAINS PORK DEWLAP." As many of you already know, I am not one of those people.
Who am I to look down my snout at pork dewlap, much less lard? Though I must admit that this was the first time I've ever tasted either. When I tore the cover off the little tub, I was greeted by a lake of snowy white pork lard with a little island of cured dewlap in the center. After I mixed it up I spread a bit on some hearty rye and found it to be pretty tasty. But when I smeared a goodly amount on toasted rye with a little onion I was in porcine paradise. The lard melted onto the warm, crusty bread so perfectly that the fat sensor in my brain went off immediately, leaving me woozy with satisfaction. And with good reason, a mere tablespoon of this Polish wonder spread contains 3.5 grams of saturated fat.
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6-25-2007 @11:55PM joshe said... Great Smalec, man!
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6-25-2007 @5:20PM bdw said... My politically correct in-laws were horrified by the thought that I cooked with lard, but it tastes three times as good as butter, which means that I can use half as much and still have it taste better, plus as you noticed it has only one third as much cholesterol as butter. Now my mother in law uses lard in her famous pie crusts, which are now even more famous, as well as tastier and crispier. She doesn't tell her friends that she uses lard, though, and when she gives out recipes, they still list butter.
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6-25-2007 @1:33PM Kostika said... More people should give in and try cooking with lard. It's not healthy to eat it all the time, but on occassion it is so lovely. I don't make pastry with anything else and frying food in lard changes the flavour in amazing and wonderful ways.
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