LARD. There are some words that are descriptive just by their sound -- puke, phlegm, snot, Hillary. When you hear those words you just automatically get a negative mental image. Lard is one of those words. Lard is rendered pig fat. When you hear the word, you just think, heavy, fatty, nasty-tasting.
I told you that so I could tell you this.
I decided that I'd make some Indian fry bread (the state bread of South Dakota) today to take to work. It's a simple recipe. Just flour, baking powder and water and fried in lard. There's that word. So, I went out to buy a tub of this stuff. I went to three stores and couldn't find it. Apparently, lard has been totally removed from the white man's diet. Those meddling health fanatics again, dictating what we should and shouldn't eat.
Undaunted, I went to an ethnic (Hispanic/Asian) store and found what I needed -- almost. All I could find was something called refined lard. The lard I remember from my youth was brownish with bits of something like bacon in it. This stuff is pure white -- like Crisco. But, it smelled a bit like lard and is 100 percent fat. Fat tastes good.
So, as soon as I get home from work, I'll be frying on my new stove for the first time. I hope that splatter guard works.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Lard
LARD. There are some words that are descriptive just by their sound -- puke, phlegm, snot, Hillary. When you hear those words you just automatically get a negative mental image. Lard is one of those words. Lard is rendered pig fat. When you hear the word, you just think, heavy, fatty, nasty-tasting.
I told you that so I could tell you this.
I decided that I'd make some Indian fry bread (the state bread of South Dakota) today to take to work. It's a simple recipe. Just flour, baking powder and water and fried in lard. There's that word. So, I went out to buy a tub of this stuff. I went to three stores and couldn't find it. Apparently, lard has been totally removed from the white man's diet. Those meddling health fanatics again, dictating what we should and shouldn't eat.
Undaunted, I went to an ethnic (Hispanic/Asian) store and found what I needed -- almost. All I could find was something called refined lard. The lard I remember from my youth was brownish with bits of something like bacon in it. This stuff is pure white -- like Crisco. But, it smelled a bit like lard and is 100 percent fat. Fat tastes good.
So, as soon as I get home from work, I'll be frying on my new stove for the first time. I hope that splatter guard works.
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10 comments:
WHERE did you find that poster?!?
That's one of the funniest things I've ever seen!
Please, please, please...if you ever invite me over for anything cooked in pig fat, just do *not* tell me that's what it is. If I know what it is, I definitely won't be able to eat it. Not that I keep particularly kosher, but eeeeeuuuwwww...
This phenomenon must be confined to you guys down south...because I have no problem buying lard here. In fact, I wouldn't make a pie crust without it.
And you're right...fat really does taste good ;)
Lard is basically clarified butter (butter with the water and protein removed). It is possible to make clarified butter on your own, google "clarified butter". Clarified butter is also sold under the name 'ghee'.
The lard you were describing was most likely the fat left over from cooking bacon. The brown stuff was bacon that had not made it to the plate.
Yeah, some things just sound bad. "Pantry" is a much better word than "larder." Too many icky images come to mind with the latter. :)
Wow, whodda thought a post on lard would bring so many responses?
capn, I have no idea where I got that picture. When I'm surfing, I download anything that might come in handy someday and that's been on my drive for ages.
cyndi, my sons used to say the same thing about pig blood -- until they tried it.
Wonder Woman, I'm in the south of the south and thought there would be no problem finding lard. Maybe if I went to southern Virginia. One of my favorite cuts of beef is oxtail. It's the tastiest -- and fattiest part of the cow.
evan, I've made butter and clarified butter. Butter comes from cow's milk. Lard comes from pig fat. Not exactly the same thing.
feline, a larder is for storing bacon and other meat, a pantry for bread and other foods and a buttery for storing alcoholic beverages. The internet is a wonderful thing.
Kimosabe, we are outraged that you would include the word "Hillary" with such fine words as puke, snot and phlegm. You have disrespected these words. Hillary belongs with vomit and I don't know what else...
Okay, I'll give you that, but I'm going to take a half-point. Larders were indeed a place to store meat back in medieval-type days.
However, by more modern definition, "larder" and "pantry" are interchangeable as a place where food is stored. Being one who reads a lot on the homemaking arts, I've seen pantries called larders numerous times.
Even Webster agrees with me. ;)
Main Entry: lar·der
Function: noun
Pronunciation: 'lär-d&r
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French lardier, from lard, orig., storehouse for bacon,
1 : a place where the food supplies of a household are kept; PANTRY
2 : a supply of food; provisions
Webster's dictionary is like the Tonight Show. Standards have slipped since Johnny Carson died.
In my neck o' the woods, canned goods were kept in the pantry, while perishables stayed in the root cellar.
Larder? Whut's that?
Don't turn this into another hat etiquette debate.
Rick, one word. Bile.
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