larding

Advanced 🍳 Food / Culinary

Definition

Threading strips of fat through lean meat with a larding needle to add moisture and flavor from within, because some meats are born dry and need internal fat intervention. The surgical approach to keeping venison from turning into jerky.

Example Usage

The beef was larded with pork fat using a technique that looked like needlepoint but tasted like heaven.

Origin

From French 'larder,' meaning to insert lard or fat strips

Fun Fact

Before modern breeding produced well-marbled meat, larding was essential for cooking lean game and beef—making it a solution to a problem we've largely bred out of existence.

Source: Classical meat preparation terminology

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