Salo or slanina is a European food consisting of salt-cured slabs of

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

subcutaneous fat The subcutaneous tissue (), also called the hypodermis, hypoderm (), subcutis, or 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 ...

with or without skin and with or without layers of

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

. It is commonly eaten and known under different names across Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. It is usually dry salt or

brine Brine (or briny water) is a high-concentration solution of salt (typically sodium chloride or calcium chloride) in water. In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawat ...

cured. The East Slavic, Hungarian and

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

variety may also be cured with

paprika Paprika is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers, traditionally ''capsicum annuum''. It can have varying levels of Pungency, heat, but the peppers used for hot paprika tend to be milder and have thinner flesh than those used to produce ...

or other seasonings added, whereas the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and West Slavic version is often

smoked Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food, particularly meat, fish and tea, by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. In Europe, alder is the traditional smoking wood, but ...

. The Slavic word "salo" or "slanina" as applied to this type of food is often translated to English as "

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

", "

lard Lard is a Quasi-solid, semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering (animal products), rendering the adipose tissue, fatty tissue of a domestic pig, pig.

" or "

fatback Fatback is a layer of subcutaneous fat taken from under the skin of the back of a domestic pig, with or without the skin (referred to as pork rind). In cuisine Fatback is a preferred fat for various forms of charcuterie, particularly sau ...

" in general, depending on context. Unlike bacon, salo contains more fat than lean meat and unlike lard, salo is not rendered. It is similar to Italian ''

lardo ''Lardo'' is a type of ''salume'' made by curing strips of fatback with rosemary and other herbs and spices. The most famous ''lardo'' is from the Tuscan ''frazione'' (hamlet) of Colonnata, where ''lardo'' has been made since Roman times. ...

'', the main difference is that ''lardo'' is sliced for curing.

Preservation

For preservation, salo is salted and sometimes also smoked and aged in a dark and cold place, where it will last for a year or more. The slabs of fat are first cut into manageable pieces, typically 15×20 cm. Then layers of fat slabs (skin side down) topped with one-centimetre layers of salt go into a wooden box or barrel for curing. For added flavouring and better preservation, the slabs of salo may be covered with a thick layer of

(usually in the more Western lands; in Russian salo with paprika is called "Hungarian"), minced

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

, or sometimes

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

Culinary

Salo is consumed both cured and cooked. Salo is often chopped into small pieces and fried to render fat for

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

, while the remaining

cracklings Cracklings (American English), crackling (British English), also known as scratchings, are the solid material that remains after Rendering (animal products), rendering animal fat and skin to produce lard, tallow, or schmaltz, or as the result of ro ...

( in Ukrainian, in Russian, in Lithuanian, in Polish, in Serbo-Croatian, in Slovene, in Czech, (o) in Slovak, in Romanian, in

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

, töpörtyű in Hungarian, пръжки or джумерки in Bulgarian) are used as condiments for fried

potatoes The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

varenyky Pierogi ( ; ) are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a filling and cooked in boiling water. They are occasionally flavored with a savory or sweet garnish. Typical fillings include potato, cheese, quark, sauerkraut ...

or spread on bread as a snack.

Usage

Salted ''salo'' can be stored for a long time. It can be consumed without any preparation. For these reasons, it is often used as a food supply by shepherds, hunters, backpackers, and other travellers, and was issued to German and Hungarian soldiers as part of their rations during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. When salo has been aged too long or exposed to light, the fat may oxidize on the surface and become rancid, yellow, and bitter-tasting. Though no longer fit for culinary use, the spoiled fat can be used as a water-repellent treatment for leather boots or bait for

mouse trap A mousetrap is a specialized type of animal trap designed primarily to catch and, usually, kill mice. Mousetraps are usually set in an indoor location where there is a suspected infestation of rodents. Larger traps are designed to catch other s ...

s, or it can be used to prepare homemade

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

. Belarusian, Ukrainians, and Lithuanians often eat it with

rye bread Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat f ...

and garlic or onion.

In popular culture

There are a many jokes which associate salo and Ukrainians. A joke about Ukrainians gave rise to a condiment, chocolate salo. There is a Museum of Salo in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, Ukraine. On August 27, the Salo Day is informally celebrated in Ukraine.Кристина Кащавцева
З часничком і чорним хлібом: для чого корисно їсти сало
August 27, 2021

Preservation

Culinary

Usage

In popular culture

See also

Notes

References

Further reading