Fatback (also known as streak of lean or streak of fat) is a

cut of meat Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut (ea ...

from a

domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

. It consists of the layer of

adipose tissue Adipose tissue, body fat, or simply fat is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. In addition to adipocytes, adipose tissue contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, vascular e ...

(

subcutaneous fat The subcutaneous tissue (), also called the hypodermis, hypoderm (), subcutis, superficial fascia, is the lowermost layer of the integumentary system in vertebrates. The types of cells found in the layer are fibroblasts, adipose cells, and mac ...

) under the skin of the back, with or without the skin (

pork rind Pork rind is the culinary term for the skin of a pig. It can be used in many different ways. It can be rendered, fried in fat, baked, or roasted to produce a kind of pork cracklings (US) or scratchings (UK); these are served in small pieces ...

). Fatback is "hard fat" and is distinct from the visceral fat that occurs in the abdominal cavity which is called "soft fat" and is used to produce leaf lard. Like other types of pig fat, fatback may be rendered to make a high-quality

lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
entry in the o ...

. It is one source of

salt pork Salt pork is salt-cured pork. It is usually prepared from pork belly, or, more rarely, fatback. Salt pork typically resembles uncut side bacon, but is fattier, being made from the lowest part of the belly, and saltier, as the cure is stronger an ...

. Finely diced or coarsely ground fatback is an important ingredient in

sausage making The origins of meat preservation are lost to the ages but probably began when humans began to realize the preservative value of salt. Sausage making originally developed as a means to preserve and transport meat. Primitive societies learned ...

and in some meat dishes. Fatback is an important element of traditional

charcuterie Charcuterie ( , also ; ; from french: chair, , flesh, label=none, and french: cuit, , cooked, label=none) is a French term for a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, ''galantines'', ''balloti ...

. In several European cultures it is used to make specialty

bacon Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...

. Containing no

skeletal muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

, this bacon is a delicacy. At one time fatback was Italy's basic cooking fat, especially in regions where olive trees are sparse or absent, but health concerns have reduced its popularity. However, it provides a rich, authentic flavour for the classic battuto – sautéed vegetables, herbs and flavourings – that forms the basis of many traditional dishes. Today,

pancetta Pancetta () is a salt-cured pork belly meat product in a category known as salume. In Italy, it is often used to add depth to soups and pastas. (in Italian). Uses For cooking, it is often cut into cubes (''cubetti di pancetta''). In Italy, p ...

is often used instead.

Bacon

Fatback is processed into

slab bacon Slab or SLAB may refer to: Physical materials * Concrete slab, a flat concrete plate used in construction * Stone slab, a flat stone used in construction * Slab (casting), a length of metal * Slab (geology), that portion of a tectonic plate that i ...

by many methods, including brine curing, dry curing, smoking, or boiling. Usually the skin (rind) is left on. This fatback bacon is widely eaten throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. In

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

it is called ''

lardo Lardo is a type of ''salumi'' made by Curing (food preservation), curing strips of fatback with rosemary and other herbs and spices. The most famous lardo is from the Tuscany, Tuscan hamlet of Colonnata, where lardo has been made since Ancien ...

'', and notable examples are

Valle d'Aosta Lard d'Arnad Valle may refer to: * Valle (surname) Geography *"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina * University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colom ...

and

Lardo di Colonnata Lardo is a type of ''salumi'' made by curing strips of fatback with rosemary and other herbs and spices. The most famous lardo is from the Tuscan hamlet of Colonnata, where lardo has been made since Roman times. Colonnata is a frazione of t ...

. In

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and other countries of the former Soviet Union, it is called ''salo''. In

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, where it is called ''szalonna'' and in Bulgaria and Romania, where it is called ''

slanina Salo or Slanina (Russian and Ukrainian: сало, Belarusian: сала, Hungarian: szalonna, Polish: słonina, ro, slănină, Czech and Slovak: slanina, Carpatho-Rusyn: солонина/solonyna, lt, lašiniai, Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian ...

'', it is very popular for campfire cookouts (''szalonnasütés''). In

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where it is called ''Rückenspeck'' (back pork fat), it is one of two cuts known as ''

Speck Speck can refer to a number of European cured pork products, typically salted and air-cured and often lightly smoked but not cooked. In Germany, speck is pickled pork fat with or without some meat in it. Throughout much of the rest of Europe an ...

''.

Pork rinds

Fatback is a traditional part of

southern US cuisine The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several regions, including Tidewater, Appalachian, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, and Floribbean cuisine. In recent history, elements of Southern cuisine have spread ...

soul food Soul food is an ethnic cuisine traditionally prepared and eaten by African Americans, originating in the Southern United States.Soul Food originated with the foods that were given to enslaved Black people by their white owners on Souther ...

and the traditional

cuisine of Quebec The cuisine of Québec (also called "French Canadian cuisine" or "cuisine québécoise") is a national cuisine in the Canadian province of Québec. It is also cooked by Franco-Ontarians. Québec's cuisine is descended from 16th-century French ...

, where it is used for fried

s (known there as cracklings, or

oreilles de crisse ''Oreilles de crisse'' () is a traditional Quebec dish consisting of deep-fried salted fatback. It is generally served in ''cabanes à sucre'' ( sugar shacks) in spring time, as a salty and crunchy side contrasting with maple syrup-laden food ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

), and to flavor

stewed A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables and m ...

vegetables such as

leaf vegetable Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, pot herbs, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

s, green beans, and

black-eyed pea The black-eyed pea or black-eyed bean is a legume grown around the world for its medium-sized, edible bean. It is a subspecies of the cowpea, an Old World plant domesticated in Africa, and is sometimes simply called a cowpea. The common commer ...

s. A common delicacy is strips of heavily salted and fried fatback. Fatback was extremely popular in the South during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

because it is an inexpensive piece of meat. In the

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

, fried fatback is known by its Spanish name, ''

chicharrón (, , plural ; pt, torresmo ; fil, chicharon; ch, chachalon) is a dish generally consisting of fried pork belly or fried pork rinds. may also be made from chicken, mutton or beef. Name , as a dish with sauce, or as finger-food snacks, are ...

''.

In sausages

Fatback is an important ingredient in notable traditional

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

s including

nduja 'Nduja () is a spicy, spreadable pork sausage from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy. It is similar to sobrassada from the Balearic Islands in Spain, and is loosely based on the French andouille. It is Calabria's contribution to the m ...

cudighi Cudighi () is an Italian-American dish consisting of a spicy Italian sausage seasoned with sweet spices that can be bought in links or served as a sandwich on a long, hard roll, often with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. It is primarily foun ...

, and

cotechino Modena Cotechino Modena or Cotechino di Modena (spelled cotecchino or coteghino in some major dialects, but not in Italian) is a fresh sausage made from pork, fatback, and pork rind, and comes from Modena, Italy, where it has '' PGI'' status. Zampone M ...

In cooking

French cooking French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the r ...

, very thinly sliced fatback is used to line the mold when making a

terrine Terrine may refer to: * Terrine (cookware), a vessel for cooking a forcemeat loaf * Terrine (food), a forcemeat similar to pâté {{Disambiguation ...

pâté ''Pâté'' ( , , ) is a paste, pie or loaf filled with a forcemeat. Common forcemeats include ground meat from pork, poultry, fish or beef; fat, vegetables, herbs, spices and either wine or brandy (often cognac or armagnac). It is often served ...

, and thin strips of fatback are inserted under the skin of lean gamebirds for roasting. These techniques are

barding Barding (also spelled ''bard'' or ''barb'') is body armour for war horses. The practice of armoring horses was first extensively developed in antiquity in the eastern kingdoms of Parthia and Pahlava. After the conquests of Alexander the Great ...

and

larding A lardon, also spelled lardoon, is a small strip or cube of fatty bacon, or pork fat (usually subcutaneous fat), used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory food and salads. In French cuisine, lardons are also used for larding, by threa ...

, respectively, and in both the fatback is used without the rind. Fatback also is used to make

lardon A lardon, also spelled lardoon, is a small strip or cube of fatty bacon, or pork fat (usually subcutaneous fat), used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory food and salads. In French cuisine, lardons are also used for larding, by threa ...

s, salt pork, and lard.

In popular culture

The 1954

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

song "Fat Back and Corn Liquor" was written by Louisiana songwriter

Rudy Toombs Rudolph Toombs (1914 – November 28, 1962) was an American performer and songwriter. He wrote "Teardrops from My Eyes", Ruth Brown's first number one R&B song, and other hit songs for her, including " 5-10-15 Hours". He also wrote "One Mint ...

and sung by

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...

. It was released by

Aladdin Records Aladdin Records was a record company and label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by brothers Eddie and Leo Mesner. It was originally called Philo Records before changing its name in 1946. Aladdin was known for jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock mus ...

as the A side of a ten-inch

78rpm record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

References

External links

* {{Navboxes, list1= {{Fats and oils {{Pigs {{Bacon Cuts of pork Charcuterie Soul food African-American cuisine