[Sca-cooks] suet Vs. fat

[galefridus at optimum.net]

A similar distinction exists wrt sheep fat.  A lot of Islamic recipes call for tail fat, which is not to be confused with the muscle fat.  Sheep store fat in their tails (and around their hocks in some breeds).  I have never seen the stuff, but it is my understanding that it is the "more unctuous" of the two kinds of ovine fat.  I've had some interesting conversations with sheep breeders in my efforts to locate a source for the stuff -- nearly all sheep bred in North America get their tails docked, so it's pretty hard to find (I haven't succeeded yet!)

-- Galefridus

> From: Honour Horne-Jaruk 
> To: Cooks within the SCA 
> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] suet Vs. fat
> Message-ID: <193396.23637.qm at web83501.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
> 
> 
> Respected friends:
> Suet and fat are _not culinarily interchangeable. (One 
> oddity of linguistics is that rendered suet becomes tallow, 
> while rendered fat is just fat.)
> First, suet has much less included moisture and a higher 
> melting point; this makes a huge difference with many recipes 
> (as I found out the hard way when I used suet, not fat, in my 
> first venison sausages). Tallow candles are a classic example of 
> the difference between the two- fat melts at too low a 
> temperature, and can't be made into candles at all. Tallow makes 
> slightly drippy candles that don't smell good if they aren't 
> stored cold, but they hold their shape well enough for practical 
> purposes. 
> Second, suet doesn't have to be heated and filtered for 
> many uses - pie crust comes to mind - while fat tends to have 
> some spectacularly nasty bits you'll want to be very sure you've 
> gotten out. Generally speaking, fat is soft, smooth, and 
> unctuous (a much nicer term than slippery) while suet is hard, 
> brittle, and maintains shape (a much nicer term than sticky).
> The very best suet is found around the kidneys. Lard is pork 
> suet, and the kidney sections are called "leaf lard" and have 
> always been considered the best quality. 
> 
> 
> 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
> 
> FORTE EST VINUM, FORTIOR EST REX, FORTIORES SUNT MULIERES: SUPER 
> OMNIA VINCIT VERITAS