ISSUE 54, FATS & OILS, Part 1: Lard
Lard
For much of the twentieth century lard was targeted by American nutritionists as a danger food leading to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Those warnings were vastly overstated. The true danger food was the hydrogenated transfats found in Crisco, the shortening many households had embraced in place of traditional lard. The lard processors even hydrogenated lard to make it more like Crisco. I looked at the tub of lard I had in my refrigerator recently. It was hydrogenated. I threw it out.
About seven years ago there was an artisanal lard movement that asserted the value of “good lard.” But it didn’t go far because it had no coherent philosophy beyond non-hydrogenated lard is good. I think, too, the emphasis on creating flavored lard based smears for bread was a mistake. Too much entrenched competition from butter.
One of the failures of the artisanal lard movement was its inadequate consideration of the flavor of lard. One could not tell from the literature whether different breeds of hog produced different flavors of lard. It turns out that most don’t. Lard from the industrial pink pig of American industry tastes much the same as that from a Tamworth hog if you render it in the classical manner. But there are a few important exceptions. The most famous traditional lard pig of the South-the Guinea Hog produces lard with deep umami resonance. The ossabaw pig, the “most efficient fat producing mammal on the planet,” also has a distinctive fat flavor profile. The hairy European Mangalitsa pig is also known for lard flavor, less deep than Guinea.
The average person will quickest understand the glories of lard when tasting French fries cooked in boiling lard. The difference in quality can be astounding. But I think the long term future of guinea hog lard lies in baking. If you want the taste of your place in baking, using the most flavorful of ingredients, employ guinea hog lard instead of butter making puff pastry [like the sfogliatella of Naples or the salasnjaci of Serbia]. Use flour made from soft white purple straw winter wheat, the South’s original biscuit and cake wheat.
The only people who should turn their backs on lard are those who have ethical objections to the use of animals for human food. Now Crisco - -