The market · Fats and oils · The Americas, Northern and Central Europe

Lard

Rendered pork fat — clean-tasting or porky depending on the cut. The fat in Mexican tamales and refried beans, and Polish smalec.

porky · rich

What to do with it

Rosa Ibarra's Clarified milk punch, mezcal and pineappleLard would soften its edgeIbu Sari's Sambal ijoLard would soften its edgeKenji Hara's Milk punch, with hojichaLard would soften its edge
Classics built on it
MalaysianChar kway teowFlat rice noodles fried hard in lard over fierce heat with prawns, cockles, Chinese sausage, egg, bean sprouts and chives.No one here has made it yetCantonesePineapple bunA soft, sweet bread roll under a crackled, sugary crust — named for how the top looks, with no pineapple in it.No one here has made it yetTeochewFried carrot cakeSteamed white radish and rice-flour cake, cut into cubes and fried with egg, garlic and preserved radish — 'white', or 'black' with sweet soy.No one here has made it yetShandongPoetry and Rites ginkgoGinkgo nuts, shelled and blanched, simmered in syrup with honey and lard until they're glazed and tender — a sweet from the Kong family's banquet table.No one here has made it yetZhejiangNingbo tangyuanSoft balls of glutinous rice dough filled with a sweet paste of black sesame, sugar and lard, served in their hot cooking water.No one here has made it yetFujianOyster omeletteSmall oysters fried in a sweet potato starch batter with eggs — crisp in places, soft and gooey in others.No one here has made it yetFujianBak changA pyramid of soy-darkened sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves round braised pork belly, mushroom, chestnut and salted egg yolk.No one here has made it yetAnhuiHuangshan shaobingA small, flaky, round pastry filled with preserved mustard greens and fatty pork, crusted with sesame and baked against the wall of a charcoal oven.No one here has made it yetYunnanCrossing-the-bridge noodlesA bowl of scalding broth under a layer of fat, with raw sliced meats, quail's egg, vegetables and rice noodles added at the table, in that order.No one here has made it yetGalicianCaldo gallegoA plain, restoring broth of turnip tops or cabbage, potatoes and white beans, flavoured with a little cured pork.No one here has made it yetCastilian and MadridCochinillo asadoA milk-fed piglet, a few weeks old, roasted whole in a wood oven until the skin is glassy and crackling and the meat soft enough to cut with a plate.No one here has made it yetCastilian and MadridLechazo asadoA quarter of milk-fed lamb roasted slowly in a wood-fired oven with only water, salt and a little lard, until the skin is golden and the meat almost melting.No one here has made it yetAsturianCasadiellesLittle turnovers of wine-and-lard pastry filled with ground walnuts, sugar and anise, fried and rolled in sugar.No one here has made it yetAlsatianChoucroute garnieSauerkraut braised in white wine with juniper, then heaped with smoked and salted pork, sausages and boiled potatoes.No one here has made it yetMexicanMole negroOaxaca's black mole: chilhuacle and other dried chillies toasted almost to char, ground with nuts, seeds, fruit, spice and chocolate into a near-black sauce.No one here has made it yetJamaicanJamaican beef pattyA half-moon of flaky, turmeric-yellow pastry filled with spiced, peppery minced beef.No one here has made it yet

Kinds

Leaf lard
From around the kidneys; the whitest and mildest, for pastry.
Home-rendered (manteca)
Tan and porky; what Mexican cooks prize.
Supermarket blocks
Refined and neutral; some are hydrogenated, so check.

Goes with

masa harinablack beanonionrye bread

Knowing it

Where to buy
Butchers; Mexican and Polish shops.
Worth knowing
Render your own: dice pork back fat, melt it slowly with a splash of water, and strain. The crisp bits left are chicharrón — skwarki in Polish.

Kitchens that keep it in

Hunan province, south-central ChinaHunanHot and sour and smoky: fresh and salted chillies rather than Sichuan's numbing pepper, with smoked meats from the hearth and a fierce, quick wok.7 classicsZhejiang province, eastern ChinaZhejiangFresh, mellow and gently sweet: lake fish and river shrimp, young bamboo, cured ham and a good deal of Shaoxing wine, cooked to taste of themselves.7 classicsFujian province, south-eastern ChinaFujianThe cooking of China's south-eastern coast: clear soups, seafood, the sweet-sour red of fermented rice lees, and the street food the Hokkien carried across Asia.9 classicsAnhui province, eastern ChinaAnhuiMountain cooking from old Huizhou: bamboo shoots, mushrooms and cured things, braised long and dark, with a taste for the fermented — stinky fish and hairy tofu.8 classicsCastile and Madrid — the high central plateau of Spain, the mesetaCastilian and MadridThe kitchen of the high, dry meseta: suckling pig and lamb roasted in wood-fired ovens, chickpeas and garlic soups for hard winters, and a capital that eats out, late and standing up.10 classicsAlsace — north-eastern France, between the Vosges and the RhineAlsatianFrench and German at once: sauerkraut and pork, yeasted cakes and bread, fresh cheese and cream, cooked with the dry white wines of the Vosges foothills.9 classicsMexicoMexicanMaize, chillies and fire: a cooking thousands of years deep, built on nixtamalised corn, a whole spectrum of dried chillies, and salsas at every meal.11 classics

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