[Sca-cooks] suet Vs. fat

[Honour Horne-Jaruk]

Respected friends:



--- On Wed, 2/2/11, Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com> wrote:

> From: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] suet Vs. fat
> To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> Date: Wednesday, February 2, 2011, 12:33 AM
> Alizaundre answered my questions of
> suet vs. fat with:
> <<<  Lard is pork suet,(snip)
> 
> Oh! Part of my question was where would I even find "suet".
> But I have seen packages of lard in my local grocery store.
> Does this mean that in most cases if a recipe calls for
> "suet" that I can use lard?  This could make things
> easier since I'm not even sure where to find a specialty
> butcher shop here locally.
> 
> Thanks,
>    Stefan
   In some cases, yes, lard would substitute fine; however, most commercial lard isn't lard. It's a mixture of real lard (though certainly not all leaf lard) and pork fat, which has been artificially hydrogenated to make it act like lard in cooking. You may or may not have heard just how bad hydrogenated fat is for people, but a google search will give you an eyeful.
   However, you may not need to search for all-natural lard. Most grocery butchers can get you suet, since it's very heavily used for feeding birds.
   Also, I understand you live in Ansteorra? If that's true, I can just about guarantee you live within one hour of a private slaughterhouse. In New England and Michigan, they're often in the yellow pages under that name. I'm told they may also be listed under "meat processing". 
   Slaughterhouses can get you leaf lard or kidney suet very cheaply, since they package for private animal owners who often don't want the fats. I also find them a good place to get many organ meats and some unpopular off cuts - mostly those with heavy concentrations of tendons and ligaments, since so few people know how to cook them. Beef shanks, anyone?
>
Yours in service to both the Societies of which I am a member-
(Friend) Honour Horne-Jaruk, R.S.F.
Alizaundre de Brebeuf, C.O.L. S.C.A.- AKA Una the wisewoman, or That Pict

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