I’m not quite sure when my love affair with the pig began. As far back as I can remember, ham was one of my favorite foods, which was unfortunate because for much of my childhood I was on a strict restricted sodium diet due to kidney disease. My mother, bless her, would always go out of her way to buy a low salt ham. They are still insanely high in salt, but I could have one slice. Usually I’d wheedle two slices out of my parents and then sneak a third (perhaps fourth). Needless to say, I loved me some ham!
Entire cultures and religions eschew pork, for many reasons that are historically linked with the fact that raw pork can kill you. Hundreds of years ago they had no idea why and so it was made religious law to help keep people safe; now we know it is due to trichinosis and if you cook pork to precisely 137 degrees Fahrenheit it eradicates the possibility of contracting it. In addition, trichinosis is no longer considered a threat and the USDA has recently lowered their pork temperature recommendations. Now that all that boring scientific shit is out of the way, we can talk about how awesome pork is.
Pork is one of the most nutritionally dense meats available in the mass market today and it also tastes yummy. Despite all this, when I serve pork at work I usually get a very lukewarm reception. We still have a phobia of fat in this country and people think pork is this fatty, horrible meat. The fact is most pork is bred to be pretty lean these days. Even the local pork I have been eating (which makes exceptionally fabulous bacon, omg) is surprisingly lean. As with beef, there are fattier cuts and there are leaner cuts. Most butchers and the supermarket know about people’s fat phobias and trim accordingly before selling their products. I am actually going to have to tell mine to leave more fat on next time! Pork loin and tenderloin tend to be quite lean, and pork tenderloin is a great porcine alternative to everyone’s old favorite – boneless, skinless chicken breast. Usually you can treat pork tenderloin just as you would chicken breast, and the pork loin can be roasted in the oven or cut up into boneless chops, floured and seasoned, and pan-fried in a bit of LARD. It’s great on the grill, too, but take care that you don’t let it dry out. It cooks pretty quickly! It’s okay to have your pork be pink/medium well, or even medium-rare if you prefer!
Which brings us to the topic, which was actually lard! The very word conjures up horrible things in people’s minds about this ghastly, beastly food. Fact is, lard is probably a lot better for you than you think. The stuff you should buy should be trans-fat free (sadly most at the grocery store are hydrogenated and just as bad for you as shortening). Lard is high in both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, both of which are considered to be healthy. It’s actually higher in the “good fats” than olive oil, long considered the gold standard in healthy oils. If you can get it, please reconsider lard – nothing compares in baked goods and for frying. One of my prouder moments was when I converted my mom from a pie crust hater because of my use of bacon grease (bacon flavored lard) in a savory pie crust. Yay for lard!