Philadelphia Weekly

FOOD

Praise the Lard

The truth about the other white meat.

By Matt Soniak

Add Comment | Comments: 3 | Posted Mar. 9, 2010

More than 20 years ago, the National Pork Board started pushing the leanest, cleanest parts of its little piggies with the slogan, “Pork. The Other White Meat,” and the American people—including my mother—totally bought it. And then, for almost the next 20 years, most of us—you, me, our mothers, omnivores all over the country—dutifully ate our tenderloins and center loin chops. They tasted only mildly of pork and had the texture and chewiness of dishtowels, but dammit, they lived up to the slogan and we felt good about eating them.

Only, I didn’t. I was unsatisfied and confused.

How could the pork we ate for breakfast—crunchy-tender, salty, smoky, juicy, soul-satisfying bacon—be so different from the bland, tough, utilitarian pork we ate for dinner and still come from the same animal? I longed for something more. I wanted bacon—or at least the magical je ne sais quoi of bacon—every time I ate pork.

It wasn’t until I was more or less grown up that I would discover—at a barbecue stand in North Carolina, in a Chinatown noodle shop, over a bowl of real spaghetti carbonara—what the Pork Board, my mother and the American calorie- counting neurosis had kept from me: Fat.

Little white ribbons of it running through a Boston Butt. The thick slab of it holding morsels of meat together in a belly cut. Lying there, unadorned and unhindered, in the form of lardo. Rich, beautiful fat, pure as the driven snow.

Both the “other white meat” cuts of my youth and the lard-laden goodies I eat today are mostly made of water, and the flavor of any of those cuts has a lot to do with a grab bag of chemical compounds and molecules that create aromas and flavors as the meat is cooked and eaten. What separates the two, what makes one a chore to eat and gives the other the power of a religious epiphany, is the fact that a good deal of those flavor and aroma compounds don’t jive with water, but take nicely to fat, which creates a “flavor reservoir,” where the compounds can hang out, unwind and be delicious.

Lean cuts just don’t provide enough fat for all that flavor to join the party. Fatty cuts, though, give the flavor compounds enough room to bring all their friends over, and then serve as a vehicle to bring them straight to your tongue.

That OMFG moment you have every time you eat a slice of bacon or bite into a pulled pork sandwich? That’s flavor taking a road trip to your mouth, and fat is the party bus delivering it.

“Whoa, hold up,” you cry. “Isn’t fat bad? Isn’t that why we ate all those bone-dry pork chops to begin with?” Well, yes. Saturated and trans fats boost your cholesterol levels, which can increase your risk of developing cardiovascular problems—not to mention love handles.

But lard and lardasses don’t always go hand in hand and pork fat isn’t an automatic death sentence. Pure, natural fat straight from the hog—not the shelf-stable lard in a tub, which has been battered with hydrogen to give it a long shelf life, and imbued with trans fats in the process—is about 50 percent monounsaturated fat, mostly in the form of oleic acid (the “good fat” you normally turn to olive oil for), while its saturated fat content is only about 40 percent.

Of course, this isn’t an excuse to get high on the hog. All things in moderation, as they say. That’s good advice for your body and your sense of reverence. A world in which the lard almighty has lost its allure is not a world I want to live in.

>> if you want to eat out

Add to Favorites

Send to Friend

COMMENTS

Comments 1 - 3 of 3

1. Art & Barbara said... on Mar 11, 2010 at 10:36AM

“Since we have lived in Umbria where we eat a lot of pork my cholesterol has gone from 230 to 130 and a Dr. friend told us it's because we eat very little beef and a lot of pork and olive oil.
We also have wonderful tasting lardo.
Ciao Art”

2. Anonymous said... on Mar 14, 2010 at 01:02PM

“Matt, you did a charming job. Once again turning the mundane into a screaming torrent of verbose excitement.”

3. Anonymous said... on Jun 25, 2012 at 12:05AM

“I guess you need to do stuff like that because you all are so ridiculous and boring and redundant...causing panic and being hateful and acting like the onceler. By the way, possession isn't love...if you love something or somebody, set them free. Stop the pranks now...they stink as bad as you.”

ADD COMMENT

Related Content

Pearls Before Swine

By Tim McGinnis

if you want to dress it up Back in 2008, then-Sen. Obama caused a flap when he compared John McCain’s presidential campaign to “lipstick on a pig.” Feisty liberals shuddered with pleasure and Sarah Palin, as usual, looked confused. Let us be clear, pigs don’t need no gussying up! They’re beautiful and tasty creatures just as God made them but if you must play dress-up, stick to just a few modest accessories. Apple Cider It’s amazing to think that the Mennonite and Amish lifestyle, after so many years as the butt of bad jokes (see Weird Al’s “Amish Paradise”), is now somehow hip. Organic farming practices, locally sourced products and kick-ass beards are all the rage in Philly. The next time you’re in the mood for pork chops, grab a quart of Kauffman’s freshly pressed preservative-free apple cider from Lancaster County Dairy (51...

Posted Mar. 9, 2010 | Comments: 2

Article:
Fitler Dining Room opens in a charmed space, seems poised to succeed

Article:
Philabeverage: Veggie Pairings

Article:
Forking Stupid: Nicole tries Thai at Old City's Fire & Ice

Article:
Honey's Sit 'n Eat Is Sweet Enough For Two

Article:
Forking Stupid: Nicole Gives Veggies a Chance at Farm and Fisherman

Article:
Now's Your Chance to Experience Great Food-and-Drink Combinations

Article:
Philabeverage: Tis the Season for Exciting Pairing Dinners

Article:
Forking Stupid: A Few of Nicole's Favorite Things at La Calaca Feliz