SC - A question about larding

[Phil & Susan Troy]

The Cheshire Cat wrote:

>   I'm about to sound real uneducated here for a little while.  I was
> reading through some recipes in a cookbook and I found a reference to a
> larding needle (They told me to use one to insert piece of bacon fat into a
> piece of steak).  Now I like sewing and embroidery, but I've never heard of
> a larding needle, what it looks like or how to use one.
>   Could someone please enlighten me as to the nature of this edible embroidery?
> Thanx
> -Sianan

All right, now, there's nothing to fear, I'm not going to do the Ham Talk or anything!

Larded Beef (or larded anything else) is essentially artificially marbled with
fat. Prime beef, for example, as opposed to lesser grades, has little flecks
of visible fat interspersed through it. By taking a larding needle, which can
be nothing more complex than a really big sewing needle in shape, but
sometimes looks almost like  a big hypodermic needle without the syringe part,
and either attaching a strip of pork fat to the back, in the case of the
former, or filling it with a strip ofpork fat in the latter case, you can
insert the pork fat into your meat.

If you have a larding needle that has a clip or hole in the back, allowing for
your strip of fat to trail behind it, you pass your needle entirely through
the meat, until only the fat is inside it, at which point you detach the fat
from the needle and repeat the process. If you have the other standard type,
things are a little easier: you stick the needle into your meat, and either
operate a sort of plunger, or you can just use your finger or a knife tip in
some models, to push the fat in and withdraw the needle at the same time.

You either have to cut the strips you're going to use, or in the case of the
hollow-needle-and-plunger type design, you can sometimes use the needle to cut
the strips from a block of fat, the way you would core an apple, by poking the
needle in, twisting it completely around, and pulling it out. Many cooks who
bother to use this technique at all, though, often like to cut the strips by
hand, so they can do cool stuff like marinating the strips in cognac before
inserting them.

Some people often confuse barding with larding. Barding involves wrapping the
meat (usually a bird of some kind) in one or more sheets of fat, which
protects the meat from drying out, but also generally prevents browning. On
the other hand, the fat used in barding can easily be removed after cooking.

Another aspect is the fat intake, and while that is a concern for many, I
should point out that often a big chunk of meat will have some rather tough,
gristly or gelatinous fat on it, which the cook won't want to remove because
the meat will dry out. Bottom round, or what I think the British-speakers call
silverside, is a classic example. Or, sometimes the last bits of fat on a
piece of meat will beleft on by the butcher for moistness, or out of laziness
or incompetence, nowadays, but will conceal bands of elastin which make the
diner feel he or she is chewing on a bullet-proof vest. One of the good things
about larding meat is that you can trim off virtually all the fat from the
surface, if you choose, without the piece of meat drying out in cooking.

There are numerous references to larding meats in period sources, and Le
Menagier de Paris bothers to explain the difference between larding with fat
and studding with cloves or other spices, so evidently there was some
confusion among "laymen" even then. Modernly, it has become very chi-chi to
"lard" with non-fat items like truffles, shredded chilis, seaweed, and various
other stuff.

All right, so I gave the Ham Talk after all...sorry! 

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================