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Lard is a
semi-solid Quasi-solid, Falsely-solid, or semisolid is the physical term for something whose states of matter, state lies between a solid and a liquid. While similar to solids in some respects, such as having the ability to support their own weight and hold ...
white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
entry in the online ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary''. Accessed on 2020-07-05.
It is distinguished from tallow, a similar product derived from fat of cattle or sheep. Lard can be rendered by steaming, boiling, or dry heat. The culinary qualities of lard vary somewhat depending on the origin and processing method; if properly rendered, it may be nearly odorless and tasteless.E. S. Clifton, Joseph Kastelic, and Belle Lowe (1955): ''Relationships between Lard Production Methods, Volumes of Production, Costs and Characteristics of Lard Produced in Selected Packing Plants''. Research Bulletin 422, Iowa State College Experiment Station, US Department of Agriculture. It has a high saturated fatty acid content and no trans fat. At retail, refined lard is usually sold as paper-wrapped blocks. Many cuisines use lard as a
cooking Cooking, cookery, or culinary arts is the art, science and craft of using heat to Outline of food preparation, prepare food for consumption. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric ...
fat or shortening, or as a spread in the same ways as butter. It is an ingredient in various savoury dishes such as sausages, pâtés, and
filling Filling may refer to: * a food mixture used for stuffing * Icing (food), Frosting used between layers of a cake * Dental restoration * Symplectic filling, a kind of cobordism in mathematics * Part of the leather crusting process See also

* Fi ...
s. As a replacement for butter, it provides flakiness to pastry. In western cuisine, it has ceded its popularity to vegetable oils, but many cooks and bakers still favor it over other fats for certain uses.


History

Lard has always been an important cooking and baking staple in cultures where pork is an important dietary item, with pig fat often being as valuable a product as pork. During the 19th century, lard was used similarly to butter in North America and many European nations. Lard remained about as popular as butter in the early 20th century and was widely used as a substitute for butter during World War II. As a readily available
by-product A by-product or byproduct is a secondary product derived from a production process, manufacturing process or chemical reaction; it is not the primary product or service being produced. A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be consid ...
of modern pork production, lard had been cheaper than most vegetable oils, and it was common in many people's diet until the industrial revolution made vegetable oils more common and more affordable.
Vegetable shortenings Shortening is any fat that is a solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry and other food products. Although butter is solid at room temperature and is frequently used in making pastry, the term ''shortening'' seldom refers to b ...
were developed in the early 1900s, which made it possible to use vegetable-based fats in baking and in other uses where solid fats were called for. Upton Sinclair's novel '' The Jungle'', though fictional, portrayed men falling into rendering vats and being sold as lard, and it generated negative publicity. By the late 20th century lard began to be considered less healthy than vegetable oils (such as
olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
and
sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...
oil) because of its high content of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol. However, despite its reputation, lard has less saturated fat, more
unsaturated fat An unsaturated fat is a fat or fatty acid in which there is at least one double bond within the fatty acid chain. A fatty acid chain is monounsaturated if it contains one double bond, and polyunsaturated if it contains more than one double bond. ...
and less cholesterol than an equal amount of butter by weight. Un hydrogenated lard contains no transfats. It has also been regarded as a "
poverty food A famine food or poverty food is any inexpensive or readily available food used to nourish people in times of hunger and starvation, whether caused by extreme poverty, such as during economic depression or war, or by natural disasters such as ...
". Many restaurants in the western nations have eliminated the use of lard in their kitchens because of the health-related dietary restrictions of many of their customers, and religious pork-based dietary restrictions such as
Kashrut (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
and Halal mean that some bakers substitute beef tallow for lard. In the 1990s and early 2000s, however, chefs and bakers rediscovered lard's unique culinary values, leading to a partial rehabilitation of this fat among " foodies". Negative publicity about the transfat content of the
partially hydrogenated vegetable oils In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple e ...
in vegetable shortening has partially driven this trend. Chef and food writer Rick Bayless is a prominent proponent of the virtues of lard for certain types of cooking."The Real Thing: nothing beats lard for old-fashioned flavor"
by Matthew Amster-Burton, '' The Seattle Times'', September 10, 2006.
"Don't let lard throw you into a tizzy"
by Jacqueline Higuera-McMahan, '' San Francisco Chronicle'', March 12, 2003.
"Light, Fluffy – Believe It, It's Not Butter"
by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, '' New York Times'', October 11, 2000.
"Heart-stopping moment for doctors as we're falling in love again with lard"
by Sally Williams, '' Western Mail'', January 5, 2006.
It is also again becoming popular in the United Kingdom among aficionados of traditional British cuisine. This led to a "lard crisis" in late 2004."Chefs prize it. The French love it. The Poles are hogging it. And now Britain's running out of it."
by Christopher Hirst, '' The Independent'', November 20, 2004.


Production

It is produced mainly in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, Germany and Brazil. Lard can be obtained from any part of the pig that has a high concentration of fatty tissue. The highest grade of lard, known as leaf lard, is obtained from the "flare" visceral fat deposit surrounding the kidneys and inside the loin. Leaf lard has little pork flavor, making it ideal for use in baked goods, where it is valued for its ability to produce flaky, moist pie crusts. The next-highest grade is obtained from fatback, the hard subcutaneous fat between the pig's back skin and muscle. The lowest grade (for purposes of rendering into lard) is obtained from the soft
caul fat Caul fat, also known as lace fat, omentum, or fat netting, is the thin membrane which surrounds the internal organs of some animals, such as cows, sheep, and pigs, also known as the greater omentum. It is used as a casing for sausages, roulades, ...
surrounding digestive organs, such as small intestines, though caul fat is often used directly as a wrapping for roasting lean meats or in the manufacture of pâtés.Davidson, Alan. (2002). ''The Penguin Companion to Food''. New York: Penguin Books. "Caul"; p 176–177. Davidson, Alan. (2002). ''The Penguin Companion to Food''. New York: Penguin Books. "Lard"; p 530–531. Ockerman, Herbert W. and Basu, Lopa. (2006). Edible rendering – rendered products for human use. In: Meeker DL (ed).
Essential Rendering: All About The Animal By-Products Industry
'. Arlington, VA: National Renderers Association. p 95–110. (Warning: large document).
Lard may be rendered by two processes: wet or dry. In wet rendering, pig fat is boiled in water or steamed at a high temperature and the lard, which is insoluble in water, is skimmed from the surface of the mixture or separated in an industrial centrifuge. In dry rendering, the fat is exposed to high heat in a pan or oven without water (a process similar to frying bacon). The two processes yield somewhat differing products. Wet-rendered lard has a more neutral flavor, a lighter color, and a high smoke point. Dry-rendered lard is somewhat browner and has a caramelized flavor and has a lower smoke point.Rombaur, Irma S, et al. (1997). '' Joy of Cooking'' (revised ed). New York: Scribner. "About lard and other animal fats"; p 1069. Industrially-produced lard, including much of the lard sold in supermarkets, is rendered from a mixture of high and low quality fat from throughout the pig."Ask ''Cook's'': Is Lard an Acceptable Shortening?", '' Cook's Illustrated'', November 2004. Lard is often hydrogenated to improve its stability at room temperature. Hydrogenated lard sold to consumers typically contains fewer than 0.5 g of
transfat Trans fat, also called trans-unsaturated fatty acids, or trans fatty acids, is a type of unsaturated fat that naturally occurs in small amounts in meat and milk fat. It became widely produced as an unintentional byproduct in the industrial pr ...
s per 13 g serving. Lard is also often treated with bleaching and deodorizing agents, emulsifiers, and antioxidants such as BHT. These treatments make it more consistent and prevent spoilage. (Untreated lard must be refrigerated or frozen to prevent
rancidity Rancidification is the process of complete or incomplete autoxidation or hydrolysis of fats and oils when exposed to air, light, moisture, or bacterial action, producing short-chain aldehydes, ketones and free fatty acids. When these processes oc ...
.)"Make Your Own Lard: Believe it or not, it's good for you"
by Lynn Siprelle, ''The New Homemaker'', Winter 2006.
Consumers wanting a higher-quality source of lard typically seek out artisanal producers, or render it themselves from leaf lard or fatback. A by-product of dry-rendering lard is deep-fried meat, skin and membrane tissue known as cracklings.


Composition

Lard consists mainly of fats, which in context of chemistry are known as triglycerides. These triglycerides are composed of three fatty acids and the distribution of fatty acids varies from oil to oil. In general lard is similar to tallow in its composition. Pigs that have been fed different diets will have lard with a significantly different fatty acid content and iodine value. Peanut-fed hogs or the acorn-fed pigs raised for Jamón ibérico therefore produce a somewhat different kind of lard compared to pigs raised in North American farms that are fed corn.Ockerman, Herbert W. (1991). Source book for food scientists (Second Edition). Westport, CN: AVI Publishing Company.


Culinary use

Lard is one of the few edible oils with a relatively high smoke point, attributable to its high saturated fatty acids content. Pure lard is especially useful for cooking since it produces little smoke when heated and has a distinct flavor when combined with other foods. Many chefs and bakers prize lard over other types of shortening because of its flavor and range of applications.Julie R. Thomson
"10 Reasons You Should Be Cooking With Lard,"
''HuffPost Taste,'' 28 April 2014 (Retrieved 5 October 2014).


Nutritional value


Compared to other fats


In baking

Because of the relatively large fat crystals in lard, it is extremely effective as a shortening in
baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferred " ...
.
Pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), brown sugar ( sugar pie), swe ...
crusts made with lard tend to be flakier than those made with butter. Many cooks employ both types of fat in their pastries to combine the shortening properties of lard with the flavor of butter."Heaven in a Pie Pan – The Perfect Crust"
by Melissa Clark, ''New York Times'', November 15, 2006.
King Arthur Flour The King Arthur Baking Company, formerly The King Arthur Flour Company, is an American supplier of flour, ingredients, baking mixes, cookbooks, and baked goods. The company was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1790, and is now based in Norwic ...
. (2003). ''King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook.'' Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press. "Lard"; p. 550.


In cuisines

Lard was once widely used in the cuisines of Europe, China and the New World and still plays a significant role in British, Central European,
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
and
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
cuisines. In British cuisine, lard is a traditional ingredient in mince pies and Christmas puddings,
lardy cake Lardy cake, also known as lardy bread, lardy Johns, dough cake and fourses cake, is a traditional rich spiced form of bread found in several southern counties of England, each claiming to provide the original recipe. It remains a popular weeken ...
and for frying
fish and chips Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created t ...
as well as many other uses. Lard is traditionally one of the main ingredients in the Scandinavian pâté leverpostej. In Spain, one of the most popular versions of the Andalusian breakfast includes several kinds of ''mantecas'' differently seasoned, consumed spread over toasted bread. Among other variants, ''
manteca colorá ''Manteca colorá'' (Andalusian pronunciation for "red lard") is a food item prepared by adding spices (usually bay leaf and oregano) and paprika – which is what gives the dish its characteristic orange colour – to lard, which is then coo ...
'' (lard with paprika) and ''zurrapa de lomo'' (lard with pork flakes) are the preferred ones. In
Catalan cuisine Catalan cuisine is the cuisine from Catalonia. It may also refer to the shared cuisine of Northern Catalonia and Andorra, the second of which has a similar cuisine to that of the neighbouring Alt Urgell and Cerdanya ''comarques'' and which i ...
lard is used to make the dough for the pastry known as coca. In the Balearics particularly, ensaimades dough also contains lard. Lard consumed as a spread on
bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...
was once very common in Europe and North America, especially those areas where dairy fats and vegetable oils were rare. As the demand for lard grows in the high-end restaurant industry, small farmers have begun to specialize in heritage hog breeds with higher body-fat contents than the leaner, modern hog. Breeds such as the Mangalitsa hog of Hungary or
Large Black pig The Large Black pig is a British breed of domestic pig. It is the only British pig that is entirely black. It was created in the last years of the nineteenth century by merging the black pig populations of Devon and Cornwall in the south-west w ...
of Great Britain are experiencing an enormous resurgence, to the point that breeders are unable to keep up with demand. When used without qualification the word 'lard' in English generally refers to wet-rendered lard, which has a very mild, neutral flavor as opposed to the more noticeably pork-flavored dry-rendered lard, or dripping. Dripping sandwiches are still popular in several European countries— Hungarian ''zsíroskenyér'' ("lardy bread") or ''zsírosdeszka'' ("lardy plank"), and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
"Fettbemme", seasoned pork fat. Similar snacks are sometimes served with beer in Poland, Czech Republic, and Slovakia. They are generally topped with onions, served with salt and
paprika Paprika ( US , ; UK , ) is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers. It is traditionally made from ''Capsicum annuum'' varietals in the Longum group, which also includes chili peppers, but the peppers used for paprika tend to be milder an ...
, and eaten as a side-dish with beer. All of these are commonly translated on menus as "lard" sandwiches, perhaps due to the lack of familiarity of most contemporary English native speakers with dripping. Attempts to use Hungarian ''zsír'' or Polish ''smalec'' (both meaning "fat/lard") when British recipes calling for lard will reveal the difference between the wet-rendered lard and dripping. In Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as in many parts of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, lard was often consumed mixed into cooked rice along with
soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...
to make "lard rice" (豬油拌飯 or 豬油撈飯). And in Japan, back loin (fatback) lard is frequently used for ramen, creating a thick, nutty, slightly sweet and very hearty dish. Traditionally, along with peanut oil, lard is extensively used in Asian cooking as a general-purpose cooking oil, esp. in stir-fries and deep-frying. In Germany lard is called ''Schweineschmalz'' (literally, "
rendered fat Rendering is a process that converts waste animal tissue into stable, usable materials. Rendering can refer to any processing of animal products into more useful materials, or, more narrowly, to the rendering of whole animal fatty tissue into pur ...
from swine") and has been a longtime favorite as a spread. It can be served plain, or it can be mixed with seasonings: pork fat can be enhanced with small pieces of pork skin, called ''Grieben'' (cf. Yiddish gribenes) to create '' Griebenschmalz''. Other recipes call for small pieces of apple or onion. In English, however, '' schmaltz'' usually refers to kosher fat rendered from chicken, duck or goose. Vegetarian ''Grieben'' from onions or apples, which began as a makeshift means of diluting ''Schmalz'' in time of need, became rather popular on their own account because they allow for a specific taste and a lower fat content. Completely vegetarian ''Schmalz''-like spreads based on vegetable fats use those ingredients as well. In Germany it is forbidden to use the term ''Schmalz'' for non-lard products. In Poland lard mixed with fruit, usually chopped apple, and spread on thick slices of bread, is often served as a starter.


Other uses

Rendered lard can be used to produce
biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...
and soap. Lard is also useful as a cutting fluid in
machining Machining is a process in which a material (often metal) is cut to a desired final shape and size by a controlled material-removal process. The processes that have this common theme are collectively called subtractive manufacturing, which utilizes ...
. Its use in machining has declined since the mid-20th century as other specially engineered cutting fluids became prominent. However, it is still a viable option. Lard and other animal fats were formerly used as an anti-foaming agent in industrial fermentation processes such as
brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...
; there, animal fats have been superseded by polyethers.Randal M. Hill, Steven P. Christiano, "Antifoaming agents", in Joseph C. Salamone, ed., ''Polymeric Materials Encyclopedia'', CRC Press, 1996, 1:294


See also

*
Lardy cake Lardy cake, also known as lardy bread, lardy Johns, dough cake and fourses cake, is a traditional rich spiced form of bread found in several southern counties of England, each claiming to provide the original recipe. It remains a popular weeken ...
, an English bread with heavy lard content * Suet, like leaf lard * Whale blubber


References


External links


"High on the Hog"
by Corby Kummer, ''New York Times'', August 12, 2005.

by Derrick Schneider, ''An Obsession With Food'' (blog), January 12, 2006.

''Food Resource, College of Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University'', February 20, 2007. – Bibliography of food science articles on lard. {{Authority control Animal fat products Cooking fats Spreads (food) Animal fats