How do you spell flavor?
F. A. T.
Lest you think that adding flavor--er, fat--to your food is a guilty pleasure, let me reassure you.
I eat fat. I am thin.
Probably the majority of my calories come from fat.
I don't know why Americans are obsessed with low-fat. When I was younger I ate low-fat. I was the heaviest and unhealthiest I have ever been, and craved food all day long.
Meanwhile, the French fill their meals with butter, cream, and lard, and they continue to be slender just as they have always been.
What are we missing?
Fat is only bad for you if it is a bad fat, such as refined or hydrogenated oils.
Fat from healthy sources is a vitally important part of a healthy diet. You might find, like I did, that when you start eating healthy fat, your food cravings go away.
A slab of lardons being cut into slices.
Lardons ≠Bacon
Lardons is pronounced "lardo", with that nasally French sound at the end of the word.
Bacon is pork belly which has been cured and often smoked. It has fat, but also lots of meat.
Lardons is made from back fat which has been cured with salt. It is primarily fat.
I love me some bacon, but frankly, bacon has too much meat to be lardons. Lardons is supposed to be fat, not meat. Delicious, cured, salty fat.
Although many people will substitute bacon in recipes calling for lardons because it is hard to find real lardons in America, lardons ≠bacon.
The coat of arms of the Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs (which translates to "the Brotherhood of the Chain of Roasters") features four larding needles surrounding two crossed meat turning spits.
Lardons is a big deal in France.
What do the French do with lardons? They
stud lean venison roasts with 1/4" x 1" slices
wrap steamed asparagus with long slices, the hot asparagus makes it melty and translucent
pull thin strips of it through a roast with a larding needle
sauté them till crispy and top salads, notably the wilted frisée salad
fry them with potatoes
include it in egg dishes such as quiche and omelets
Want to know what I do with lardons? I eat it. Seriously, I am snacking on some as I write this blog. If you are the type of person who likes a little bread with your butter, you will love lardons.
In addition to being good in cooking, slices of lardons are particularly good on crackers or as part of a charcuterie board. Yes, you can eat it raw. It is cured.
If you can get your hands on some high quality, pasture raised pork back fat, you can easily make your own lardons. It will be chemical free (most bacon has nitrates), and you can probably make it a lot cheaper than you can buy bacon.
Freshly sealed back fat with salt, spices, and a basil leaf.
Easy Lardons Recipe
Making lardons is just like curing any meat--you weigh the meat (or in this case, fat), measure out how much salt and spices to add, rub it with salt, and let it sit in your fridge for a time while the salt works its magic.
You will need:
kitchen scale
vacuum sealer and bags, or heavy ziploc bags
back fat
non-iodized salt
pepper, garlic, and ground juniper berry (optional)
Weigh your back fat. To make the math easier, weigh it in grams.
Calculate the amount of salt you need by multiplying the weight by .1, to get 10%.
Example: If your back fat weighs 638 grams, 638 x .1 = 63.8 (round up to 64) grams of salt.
If you opt to add pepper, garlic, and/or ground juniper berry (you really should, it is soooo good!), use about 1 teaspoon of pepper, 2 teaspoons of garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of ground juniper berry per 1,000 grams of fat back. Just mix the spices with the salt.
Rub the back fat with the salt and spices on all sides. Place in a vacuum sealer bag. If there was more salt than would stick to the fat, dump it in the bag too. Vacuum seal the bag to remove all air.
If you do not have a vacuum sealer, you can use a heavy baggie. Get out as much air as you can and close it tightly.
Write the date on the bag so you know when it will be ready, or write it on your calendar.
(Unlike curing meat, there is so little moisture drawn out by the salt that you do not have to pour juices off a day or two after salting the fat. Also, there is no need for it to shrink due to evaporation like with meat.)
Place the fat in a back corner of your fridge and try to not think about it for at least two months.
At two months, pull out that beautiful little package of lardons. Open it up and brush off excess salt. Slice a strip and eat it. Can you believe that something as simple as cured pork fat can taste THAT GOOD?
Some fat back will have the rind (skin) on it. If you find that there is a tough rind on one side, use a sharp knife to cut it off. It will add depth and body to a stew, just as you would boil bones for stock.
Larding a Venison Roast
To make venison more juicy, tender and flavorful:
Cut lardons into 1/4" x 1" pieces.
With a sharp, slender knife, poke holes into the roast every couple of inches.
Insert the pieces of lardons into the holes.
Roast as usual.
For added depth, baste the roast with its juices as it cooks.
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