Larding

[Shalmanese]

I was just watching a cooking show featuring barding and larding* and I thought, man, I can't remember the last time that was featured anywhere modern. It seems like it was big all through the 60s and then just dropped out of favour. I wouldn't even know where to start getting a larding needle. Even on egullet, this doesn't even seem to be discussed anymore.

So does anyone still lard? Pros? Cons? Why did it gain prominence? Why did it fall out of favour?

*Larding involves the threading of thin strings of fat (pork fatback or beef suet usually) through large chunks of relatively lean meat so that, when it is roasted, the meat is more moist.

[A Patric]

Sounds good to me, and almost all I need to know/see is that it figures heavily into my favorite Julia Child cookbook.

Alan

[Anna N]

I watched a similar show last week on FoodTV.ca called "Cook like a Chef" and was totally fascinated and wanted to rush out and buy a larding needle. I've never done it but am not sure how long I can resist.

[Adam Balic]

Some larding that I did last year.

A haunch of Roe deer

A chunk of beef of Ragu.

The needles are hard to come by, but Nisbets in the UK sell them, but these are a little large IMO.

Some more information on larding from Ivan Day's excellent site.

Major reasons why it isn't done any more:

-Lack of domestic staff (takes up a lot of time)

-People rare roast meat anymore, they bake it.

-The meat used now is not the same as 100-200 years ago.

- Fashion, as you can see from Ivan Day's site, the larding was ment to look good as well as have a practical purpose.

It is a grea way of introducing flavours though. I supsect that larding doesn't actualy 'keep meat moist' directly, what it does is cool the surface of the meat though evaporation and crisps it as well (the lard strips contain quite a bit of water as well as fat). As you can see most of the lard was inserved in a shallow manner, rather then deep into the meat. In my experience fat that is placed deep into the meat does not get warm enough to melt.

Edited March 1, 2006 by Adam Balic (log)

[Anna N]

Some larding that I did last year.

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Adam, many thanks for the photos and the site.

[moosnsqrl]

John Besh larded scallops with Andouille on Iron Chef and I thought "I'll have to try that" but have not yet. I hadn't ever heard of (or thought of) larding fish or seafood before but why not?

[andiesenji]

I lard the pork tenderloins which from today's "bred for lean" hogs, is very dense with little marbelling and mostly is too dry when roasted.

Also lamb, which I really don't care for but cook for others who do.

It is a must for venison roasts, usually much too lean and dry - it makes a world of difference.

Fantes has two types of larding needles. I have both plus an old one that is similar to the one with the pusher.

Scroll all the way to the bottom of this page where you will find a Larding Needle with pusher 6 from the bottom and the other one right below it.

Larding needles.

It can also be used to insert garlic, strips of pepper or an herb paste deep into a roast, or into the thick meat of a fowl, in particular, stuff that is too thick to go through one of the injection needles.

As I mentioned on another thread, I use it for coring very small fruits such as the tiny seckle and forelli pears as I can get into the fruit from the blossom end and leave the stem intact.

[andiesenji]

Regarding fish or seafood, I haven't tried scallops, but many years ago, when abalone were still abundant and I had diver friends bring them to me, after pounding them, I would use a larding needle to insert butter inside the steaks.

It is also handy for inserting a composed butter, with herbs and spices between the ribs and the flesh when cooking whole fish, either poaching or roasting as you can do this without marring the appearance of the fish.

[Priscilla]

Very timely discussion--I have been, in that cooking-obssession kind of way, somewhat paralyzed by the need for a larding needle since last week when surveying veal recipes. And the preparation causing the paralysis wasn't even the dish I was making. Ah, c'est la guerre. I am SO getting one right quick here.

[Jamie Valvo]

I just took a dish off the menu in which I used some larding skill.

Juniper and Sesame Crusted Tuna Loin (larded with crisped lomo)

White Beans and Savoy Cabbage

Miso Vinaigrette

I really enjoyed the flavors and the larding was a fun exercise.

James Valvo

Chef de Cuisine

Tribute

[Kevin72]

I hope he doesn't mind me speaking for him, but Nathan P larded a chuck roast for a braise he did this past weekend.

[bleudauvergne]

I understand that some meats call for larding against the grain while some are best larded with the grain. Why? Any thoughts?

[andiesenji]

I understand that some meats call for larding against the grain while some are best larded with the grain.  Why?  Any thoughts?

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I was told to do it cross-grain so it could penetrate into the linear strands. Well, that wasn't exactly the way it was explained to me. The chef who was teaching the class was not big on explaining why, it was mostly "do it that way because I am telling you to do it that way" and "what? are you writing a book or something? All you need to know is how to do it not why."

This was a good many years ago and perhaps he himself did not know how the process worked, only that it did.

(This was the same teacher who used calipers to determine if we were dicing properly.)

[Mottmott]

I don't make roasts often anymore. When I do, if I can't get one really well marbled, I do lard them. It can make a big difference.

[Jmahl]

The French lard - why wouldn't you?

Good eating,

Jmahl

[devlin]

Since, as someone notes, the lard isn't really intended to penetrate too deeply into the meat, adhering pretty narrowly to the surface, I'm wondering whether "larding" in this way is a more complicated version of wrapping a meat with what the Italians call "pork lace," or pork caul, which is a membranous network of pork fat wrapped around a meat and then simply cooked as usual.

My problem here, in southern Indiana, is to explain sufficiently to anyone what pork caul is. I phoned several butchers who didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I described it briefly, referring to it as pork lace, to a friend who was born here and lived here all his life, and he said, "Oh sure, pork caul. Ask the local butcher."

[andiesenji]

I put the larding all the way through roasts.

"Barding" is the wrapping of meat, fish or fowl with fat.

Larding is forcing strips of fat deep into the meat or whatever.

Barding

[Adam Balic]

If you force lard deep into a roast it will not melt, unless you like a very high internal temperature.

Up until the development of the enclosed domestic oven, roasting was done in front of an open source of heat, usually on some type of spit arrangement. When you 'roast' in the oven, it is actually what would have been called 'baked' meat. The two type of cooking are quite different, the former has a high radiant heat componant and this is most relavant of larding and barding, as it helps to keep the surface of the meat cool, and prevent it from drying out, while the interior of the meat heats up and cooks.

There are numerous historical illustrations and descriptions of how to lard meat, these indicate the the lard is inserted at a shallow angle, with much of the lard actually on the outside of the meat. This makes sense if you want to keep the surface of the meat cool. Even cuts of meat like a fillet, which are tender and don't need internal lubrication, where larded like this.

Another purpose was to add flavour and this is mostly what is done now as, drying out of the meat in an oven isn't such a big deal. This was done historically by rolling the lard strips in herbs/spices or in some case inserting things like strips of Seville orange peel or even anchovies instead of lard. Obviously, in this latter case there is not going to be any 'internal' lubrication of the meat. In this modern setting, if you want to deeply lard a chunk of meat, you are much better off using strips of bacon ("Lardons"), rather then backfat, unless you really like large chunks of fat through rare roast.

Barding is also a good way of keeping the surface of meat cool and moist, and unless uou have a very fine larding needle and a lot of time, larding game birds would actually be counter productive as it would disrupt the flesh too much.

The reason why larding/barding was more common then using caul, is that fat is a year round prodcut and always on hand, caul was much more finite and mostly only avalible around the time a pig was killed. Obviously, this issue is no longer a problem.

[Shalmanese]

If you force lard deep into a roast it will not melt, unless you like a very high internal temperature.

Up until the development of the enclosed domestic oven, roasting was done in front of an open source of heat, usually on some type of spit arrangement. When you 'roast' in the oven, it is actually what would have been called 'baked' meat. The two type of cooking are quite different, the former has a high radiant heat componant and this is most relavant of larding and barding, as it helps to keep the surface of the meat cool, and prevent it from drying out, while the interior of the meat heats up and cooks.

There are numerous historical illustrations and descriptions of how to lard meat, these indicate the the lard is inserted at a shallow angle, with much of the lard actually on the outside of the meat. This makes sense if you want to keep the surface of the meat cool. Even cuts of meat like a fillet, which are tender and don't need internal lubrication, where larded like this.

Another purpose was to add flavour and this is mostly what is done now as, drying out of the meat in an oven isn't such a big deal. This was done historically by rolling the lard strips in herbs/spices or in some case inserting things like strips of Seville orange peel or even anchovies instead of lard. Obviously, in this latter case there is not going to be any 'internal' lubrication of the meat. In this modern setting, if you want to deeply lard a chunk of meat, you are much better off using strips of bacon ("Lardons"), rather then backfat, unless you really like large chunks of fat through rare roast.

Barding is also a good way of keeping the surface of meat cool and moist, and unless uou have a very fine larding needle and a lot of time, larding game birds would actually be counter productive as it would disrupt the flesh too much.

The reason why larding/barding was more common then using caul, is that fat is a year round prodcut and always on hand, caul was much more finite and mostly only avalible around the time a pig was killed. Obviously, this issue is no longer a problem.

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Cheers Adam. Thats exactly the type of detailed response that makes eGullet so great!

[scott123]

If you force lard deep into a roast it will not melt, unless you like a very high internal temperature.

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Just an idea, but could one lard with either rendered/chilled fat or ground fat?