Friday 23 September 2011

Lardo - Beautiful Pork Fat

Just looking at this photo of lardo makes me happy. I was, of course even happier when I was eating it. It was cured by Brian Polcyn of the Forest Grill restaurant, Birmingham, Michigan and author, with Michael Ruhlman, of Charcuterie. Note the thickness of the fat, it is from a heritage breed pig, Mangalista. Brian serves his lardo with a Spanish olive oil, and before you think too much fat, the peppery oil complements the smooth creamy pork fat.

 Lardo is simply cured pork back fat. It's a true expression of the French term terroir, revealing the breed of pig, its diet and where it lived. Even if you cure it with the exactly same mixture of salt, herbs and spices, it always has its own unique taste. I loved Brian's lardo, but Brian and I agreed that the best lardo we've eaten comes from Colonnata. In this tiny hill town perched in the hills above the marble quarries of Carrara, they cure lardo in rectangular marble vats, called concas. Many locals claim that it is the porous quality of the marble that is the key to the finesse of lardo di Colonnata. Others believe that it's the town's location that provides the perfect cool and humid climate for making lardo.

Perhaps they are both right or may be it is just the quality of the pork fat. If you get a chance to try lardo di Colonnata take it.

12 comments:

bookwench said...

Wow. It looks both amazing and delicious and rather squeamish-making, for me, all at once; and the squeamish bit of me is the bit I'm trying to get rid of. Someday perhaps! But how funny that this is your most recent post, when I've just purchased pork fat at the store and asked you a question on another post about this. :)

Phoebe said...

Where can you buy good lardo, especially the lardo di Colonnata kind?

Jennifer said...

Apart for Italy I have no idea where to buy lardo di Colonnata. As for good lardo there are some people making it. Try asking at your local butcher or deli. In Toronto I can buy it in the St. Lawrence north market from the Monforte Dairy. They also make a fabulous guanciale.

Chuck said...

On the other side of the country, Moccia Urbani in Vancouver makes an excellent lardo. http://www.moccia.ca/ Oyama meats (find them at Grandville Island Public Market) has very good guanciale.

Anonymous said...

Oh for the days when you reared your own heritage hogs (pigs... is to refined, to call these beauties). The fat would be 2-3 inches thick. CHEMICAL FREE. You could enjoy meat and fat that had FLAVOUR.

Jennifer said...

Yes, but not many of us can rear are own hogs. Luckily heritage breeds are becoming popular again.

Diana said...

Do I ever enjoy lardo. It looks divine with the olive oil. A special treat indeed.

Jennifer said...

Yes I thought the olive oil would be too much but it was perfect as it was slightly peppery. And guess what? It was a Spanish olive oil!

Anonymous said...

how long does lardo last in the fridge if vacumn sealed

Jennifer said...

It should last at least 3 months, probably longer and you can also freeze
it.

Dr. Alva Irish said...

I was looking to purchase Lardo in Michigan, the state that has the most Heritage pig farms in the US. This is what I found out: Did you know that at this very moment Michigan's Dept of Natural Resources are going on to Heritage pig breeders farms and shooting all their pigs?
Michigan just passed a law outlawing Feral Pigs then sent forth a description of a feral pig which of course looks like a heritage pig too. Call the governor and complain!
Alva

Jennifer said...

Yes I did Alva. There was a lot of noise about it on Twitter. I think everyone in the US should call the governor of Michigan NOW!

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