Lardo Typico

  It has been a long time since my last blog post.  I completed two other projects in between the Pancetta Tesa and the Lardo Typico, but the pictures were lost and a post just would not look as good without them.  One was Breasola, which is dry cured eye of round, and the other was Pork Filetto, which is a dry cured pork tenderloin.

  One thing that is important to remember is that the quality of the pork fat being used will determine if the end result is bland or flavorful.  It is simply not worth it to attempt this cure without having a source of pork that is allowed to forage on its own.  Using a hog that has eaten grains and nuts will have a unique flavor that the curing will only enhance.  A factory raised hog will just end up being flavorless and a waste of one's time to cure. 

  Lardo is basically the back fat from a hog that is covered in salt and herbs/aromatics and placed in complete darkness for at least six months.  The lardo is placed in darkness because any exposure of the fat to light will damage it.  Historically lardo is made Colonnata style in which the fat is placed inside of a solid marble casket to cure.  The calcium carbonate that is in the marble is supposed to change the flavor of the fat when it interacts with the cure.  Since it would have been almost impossible for me to find a solid marble container I ended up making Lardo Typico. 

 This was definitely one of the easier projects I have taken on.  To start all that I had to do was mix the ingredients in the cure together.  Next I put the back fat in a 2 gallon zip-top bag and completely covered the fat with the cure.  Finally I just had to wrap the zip-top bag in a black plastic bag just to ensure that no light would be able to penetrate through to the fat and place it in the fridge...oh and I had to wait around for six months.

 I started this cure back in the first week of May, now after six months it was finally time to remove it from its slumber.  The only other thing left to do was to brush off the excess salt, cut a gossamer thin slice and give it a taste.









  I can't even describe what it tastes like, it is unlike anything I have ever had.  There is a slight hint of the 'pineyness' of the rosemary and juniper along with a touch of garlic.  I wasn't able to taste any of the black pepper or bay leaf, but there was not much of either in the cure.  The lardo when sliced thin enough just melted from the heat of my mouth, leaving that amazing pure pork taste.  I found that giving it a drizzle of good olive oil also helped enhance the flavor.