Lard

[mickeyd]

My mother used lard a lot when I was a little kid, but I also recall that she later used Crisco. I guess she switched. I never asked her, nor discussed it with her. I'm feeling nostalgic. This could be all that you ever wanted to know about lard...

Quote:

You rarely see lard on menus. There aren't shelves and shelves of it in every supermarket. In this country, we've sort of lost touch with the once beloved pig fat

The Friday Podcast: Who Killed Lard? : Planet Money : NPR

[Alan]

The town in England we lived in for 7 months this year had an award winning fish & chip shop which we frequented. One of the reasons given was that he used lard in the friers, and you could see the white congealed lard on the boxes once the food had been eaten and everything had cooled down.

Very nostalgic and very tasty.

[CyclingInvestor]

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[Alan]

Great poster , from 2 years after I was born. I confess that I am from the lard generation.

[Gumby]

My English mother told me that, during WW II, they might have streaky bacon for lunch and spread the congealed fat (which I guess is technically lard) on bread for dinner.

[martyb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeyd My mother used lard a lot when I was a little kid, but I also recall that she later used Crisco. I guess she switched. I never asked her, nor discussed it with her. I'm feeling nostalgic. This could be all that you ever wanted to know about lard... The Friday Podcast: Who Killed Lard? : Planet Money : NPR

When I was growing up, lard was very commonly used for the stuff we ate. My aunt Viola (great-aunt) made the BEST biscuits in the universe using Crisco, and just typing this and thinking about them is making my mouth and eyes water!

[Major Tom]

I remember spreading warm lard on bread. I think the lard came from the pan that Mum had just finished cooking or frying something in. Maaaan, was it tasty.

[bbbamI]

My paternal grandfather ate lard all of his life. Dang if it didn't kill him....

He only lived to be 94 years old.

[Major Tom]

In fact I'm pretty sure it came from the pan after something had been cooked in it because I remember all the tasty crunchy bits that were mixed in with the lard and ended up on my bread. Mmmmm....

[Major Tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI My paternal grandfather ate lard all of his life. Dang if it didn't kill him.... He only lived to be 94 years old.

You never know - he might have lived to have been 95 otherwise

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby My English mother told me that, during WW II, they might have streaky bacon for lunch and spread the congealed fat (which I guess is technically lard) on bread for dinner.

Never mind WW II, we did that, and more, all through the 50's and 60's. We used to love "dripping sandwiches". Enough salt and saturated fat to clog a hundred arteries by today's standards.

btw, rationing in the UK didn't end until 1955.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

You rarely see lard on menus. There aren't shelves and shelves of it in every supermarket. In this country, we've sort of lost touch with the once beloved pig fat.

Lard does appear to have slipped off the supermarket shelf - except in locales where tamales are made. A tamale made without lard isn't really a tamale.

[Rustward]

In the 1960's we had a little aluminum container on the stove for the collection of bacon drippings to be used for "seasonings and flavorings" in other dishes. It had a strainer in the top with a lid over that. I guess other fat made it's way into it. That is just how it was done in that era.

[bbbamI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom You never know - he might have lived to have been 95 otherwise

....and the only 'medicine' he took was Geritol.

[14thMed]

I can't believe I am the only person that took bacon fat and sugar sandwichs to school for lunch.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 14thMed I can't believe I am the only person that took bacon fat and sugar sandwichs to school for lunch.

If you hadn't, maybe your screen name would be only 8th or 9th med?

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Never mind WW II, we did that, and more, all through the 50's and 60's. We used to love "dripping sandwiches". Enough salt and saturated fat to clog a hundred arteries by today's standards. btw, rationing in the UK didn't end until 1955.

Odd you should mention that. She always called it "drippings on toast"

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby Odd you should mention that. She always called it "drippings on toast"

My Dad was still eating dripping sandwiches and dripping on toast in his 80's. (In between his fags cigarettes of course).

[Goonie]

My grandma had a gallon tin bucket of rendered lard in her kitchen until the day she died in the late 1960's. She also had a tin can on the stove for bacon grease. If she made something fried, it was definitely fried in either lard or bacon grease!!!

Also, my Mom always had a pan of bacon grease sitting on the stove, ready and waiting to be used for nearly every meal. She always had a can of lard handy too. Eventually she switched over to Crisco shortening to replace the lard sometime in the mid-70's. However, she has never given up on bacon grease!

Both grandma and Mom swore that you couldn't possibly make decent pie crust without real lard, and that 'shortening' just couldn't match it!

[skipro3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom In fact I'm pretty sure it came from the pan after something had been cooked in it because I remember all the tasty crunchy bits that were mixed in with the lard and ended up on my bread. Mmmmm....

We called those 'scrappies' excellent stuff, the scrapings from the bottom of a fry pan.

Lard is great stuff; best donuts in the world are deep fried in lard. You just haven't lived until you've eaten french fries all cooked up in lard. I raise 2 pigs a year and get my lard for 'free'. I render it down and use the skin as cracklin's. Yum!!