Lard

To lard means to insert strips of fat into a lean piece of meat before cooking it. The strips are threaded through the meat with a larding needle or pushed into small cuts made with a knife. As the meat cooks, the fat melts inside it and keeps it moist. The word "lard" also names rendered pork fat, which is a different thing.

How to do it

1. Chill pork fatback until it is very firm. Cold fat is easier to cut and thread.
2. Cut it into strips about 5 mm (1/4 inch) thick and a little longer than the meat is wide.
3. Season the strips with salt, pepper and herbs if you like.
4. Load a strip into a larding needle, push the needle through the meat along the grain, and pull it out so the strip stays inside.
5. Repeat every 2 to 3 cm (about 1 inch) across the cut.
6. Without a needle, make deep cuts with a thin knife and push the strips in with a chopstick.

Why it works

Lean cuts such as venison, beef round and game birds have little fat inside the muscle. In a long braise or pot roast, that lean meat can taste dry. Fat placed inside the meat melts slowly and coats the fibers from within. Modern beef often has more marbling, so larding is less common today, but it still helps very lean game.

Common mistakes

• Using warm fat. It tears and smears instead of threading.
• Running the strips across the grain. Thread them along it, so slices cut across the grain show neat dots of fat.
• Using smoked bacon when you do not want a smoky taste.
• Larding a cut that is already well marbled. It only adds grease.

In recipes

"Larded" meat has had fat threaded through it. Do not confuse it with barding, which wraps fat around the outside. "Lardons" are small sticks of bacon or pork belly, browned and added to stews and salads; they are a related use of the same word.