Does French Cooking use Pork Fat? French food is famous for the combination of delicate taste accumulation and the set of strict methods of its preparation, developed during the centuries. Starting from such old school dishes as Coq au Vin, or Beef Bourguignon up to more contemporarily inspired meals, French cuisine encompasses a lot. In French cooking, one component that is often ignored, and this is the fat, especially lard, which is cured pork fat. The functions of pork fat in French cuisine especially lard has been investigated in this article as well as its relevance in modern preparation.

Historical Context:

French Cooking style of preparing foods and pig’s fat are inseparable regimes in food preparation. While the origins of French Cooking cuisine can be traced back to simpler times, fat, particularly pork fat was always a part of the picture. Originally, lard was the leading type of fat employed in French kitchens and many cooks believed that it was utterly crucial to acquire highly intense taste. In the past, the home production of lard was performed by housewives who accumulated the fat from different parts of the pork, but mainly from the belly.

The uses of lard in contemporary French culinary practice can be explained by the following reasons. When concerns about the consumption of fats emerged, people switched from using lard as they used to do earlier. Meanwhile, other cooking fats like vegetable oil and butter offered this chef another option but they deemed them healthier or more adaptable. The existence of such fancy products on the market, it should be noted, has become all the more popular in recent years, as current gourmet chefs strive to retain the traditional French culinary preparation techniques and other ingredients including lard to create the genuinely rich and genuine taste of French Cooking cuisine.

Pork Fat and Lard: Understanding the Differences:

Closely, lard and pork fat are related and dissimilar features. Pork fat means any type of fat that originate in a pig ranging from the belly fat, shoulder fat or even back fat. While lard has its origin from the word ‘larder’, it is defined as rendered pork fat. Rendering entails cooking off the fat and sieving out the meat leave behind purified lard or any other form of pork fat. This can be done at home, or commercially and the finished product is a stable high heat cooking fat with a flabbergast flavor.

For many years, French Cooking have been discussions about the health risk from using pork fat and lard. Lard has also been described as comparable to vegetable oil but was also described as containing high levels relative quantities of fatty acids that lead to high cholesterol levels and increased risk of heart related diseases. But extensive studies have revealed that fats in lard have a different fatty acid composition compared to before and they contain certain health benefits. Also, French methods of cooking as slow roasting or braising can assist in lowering the fat content of foods.

Among all the characteristics of the lard it is possible to underline the most important and that can influence on the final taste and texture of the meals – the flavors and the taste. Lard gives wonderful crispy and crispy texture great for frying and baking, besides, gives authentic almost unbeatable savory flavor to food. And it has a high smoking point which makes it good for lard on techniques like searing and frying. Additionally, lard is also used as a moist agent and tenderiser and is within French staples like cassoulet and pâtés.

The use of Pork Fat in French Cooking:

Rendering of lard is very simple and can be accomplished either at home or at a commercial level. The first to sort chops out of the pork fat and refine on a low flame allowing the sediments to float. Subsequently, French Cooking sedimentation will be skimmed off and what is produced is a clear lard suitable for cooking. Lard can just be left at room temperature or even be packed and frozen for use after longer periods.

French food, however, is also used to cooking techniques such as frying, roasting and basting all of which involve the use of lard. Cooking foods in lard gives a nice crisp brown crust on foods such as potatoes or seafood, and browning the meats and veggies with lard also causes the sugars in it to caramelize. Baking involves the use of lard just before the lard could be ready to cook thus, they will put layer of lard on the food they are cooking because they will make sure that in the food it cooks evenly and soft inside. For those two methods in French cooking, lard is essential for the taste and texture to arrive at.

It is also essential for the preservation of food and apart from being used together with beef fat to fry foods commonly referred to as cooking fat. Confits and rillettes are two conventional French dishes that have used pork fat to preserve them and give them taste. A confit basically involves slow poaching a meat which is most often pork within its own fat, while rillettes are created by pulling all together cooked pork with fat. The two meals can be kept fresh in an airtight container for weeks or even months if stored in a cool dark place ideal for trapping seasonal flavors.

The Price of Pork Fat in Some of the Most Renowned French Cooking Cuisines:

Pâtés and Terrines are traditional French products where the use of lard can still be felt while making the product. These dishes are prepared by stuffing a pastry case or a terrine tin with a composition of ground meat, fat and seasoning then baking or stewing until cooked through. For both dishes, this lard is needed for its ability to keep ingredients bound and its depth of flavor. The lard also add to the surds, velvety to the touch, consistency of the final dishes, which is unimportant for these types of meals.

Many famous food dishes utilize lard because as they stir their Coq au Vin they add rich, savory flavor. Just the coating of chicken in red wine with mushrooms, onions and bacon in this dish. The lard used from the bacon also incidentally is used to make the gravy and enhances the texture as well as the taste of the chicken and other vegetables. Furthermore, the coq au vin contents in specific fats, and the lard helps make the meat tender to yield satisfaction.

The black bean and meat dish known as cassoulet of southern France is made and cooked for a long time and normally accompanied by bread. Cassoulet is made out of pork fat where the dish contains a number of types of pork: pork belly bacon, pork shoulder bacon and pork sausage. The thick, succulent stock these cuts of meat make helps to add fat to the beans and other ingredients in the dish. In fact, the lard and other ingredients are used as a binder, to add a smooth texture characteristic of cassoulet.

The revival of pork fat in French Gastronomie:

In the recent past, there has been a renewed concern to the traditional French methods of cooking their foods and the use of lard. Chefs in attempts at maintaining the originality and rich taste initiative of traditional foods, they are now relying on lard as the cooking fat. The French traditional use of pork fat helps to confirm that the best and quality cooking products, and way of preparation of food are so essential in making mouth water dishes.

But this love for lard and more traditional technique does not mean that modern French cooking has no sense of healthy cooking at all. Currently, fresh chefs are being used to healthier options by substituting lard with olive oil or duck fat in some meals. You can contact us here. There is a larger bend toward slaughtering thinner types of meat for consumption and including a numerous number of vegetables in the acquired meals. Hence, French Cooking retaining a foothold firmly ensconced in tradition, French cooking is free to progress in the best way possible and stressed without destructive strain.

The Debate: Health versus Tradition:

Claims and counter claims are often to be found as to the use of this particular type of fat in French culinary preparation. Others are example of lard rich in saturated fat which causes an increase in cholesterol levels leading to heart diseases. Moreover, in French cooking practice like slowness in roasting and braising may result in fat melting out more from the meats that may cause the above-mentioned health problems.

On the other hand, traditionalists hold that the lard as well as other parts of the pork are essential to making for a better tasting pie.

Conclusion:

One always hears of great love that is given to what one prepares, and the ingredients used in French Cooking style of cooking. Pork fat, especially lard, has long been employed in French cooking style and discovered to be useful. Although lard may not be so frequently used in modern French cuisine because of its negative nutritional effects, in fact, lard is far more present in French cuisine. Traditionally French part of the French kitchen is concerned with pork fat and one can learn more about French cooks’ cares for the traditional parts of French cuisine at the same time that not everything related to this cooking is healthy.