Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Larzo

This is Larzo. Yes i've made this word up. And you know what, im gonna copyright it. Right here, right now. March 24th 2010. Larzo. Blam!(<-kitchen slang)
I've always disliked Lonzino, Lonzo, Lonza, Lomo, cured pork loin.
I've cured it numerous amounts of times and have never really fallen in love with it. Theres always something that has been missing. Its always very blah to me, regardless of the aromatics i've added. What really sold me on my dislike for this cured meat was when i tried some iberico de bellota lomo, it was ok, but it was ridiculously priced at like 250 a kilo.
And then there's Lardo, I love lardo. who doesn't? Well, a lot of people. It breaks my heart when i see pieces of yummy, melty, strips of cured white back fat coming back on a charcuterie plate and into the waste basket. What is it about cured fat that turns some people off? I mean look at our blueberry bison salami, its littered with cubes of fat but people eat that up like msg laced doritos. Perhaps people feel guilty about eating straight fat. I guess i can understand that. Well i cant, but i can try.
So this here Larzo, a cross between cured pork loin and cured back fat, is the answer to my dilemma of the two when cured separately. You have the leanness of pork loin that takes on flavor easily but you have the finish of the Lardo which keeps it moist and offers richness on the tip of your tongue. We dont screw with it much. We dont clean it up, we dont take off the strapping, it comes right off the bone and into the salt. It cures for 14 days and hangs for 3-4 weeks. To do it right, you must weight it during the salting stage so you get a flat compressed brick. It slices well and has the richness of prosciutto, only richer. Do everyone a favour and dont use shitty pork for this. This is only good with the best pork possible. If you can, use whey fed pork. the whey goes straight to the fat and makes it like butter rather then that typical pork fat with a chew. Enjoy!

11 comments:

PJ said...

Yum, that looks delicious!

Along the lines of people who won't eat luscious pork fat, my boyfriend's sister regularly rips the fatty bits off prosciutto and leaves them in a pile on her plate.

Sacrilege every time I see it!

b baxter said...

larzo.... love it. haha. I think you might just have the next big thing in larousse gastronomique

Portland Charcuterie Project said...

Wow.. looks awesome.

I'm going to put this on the project list for next month with my new "awesome pork source"

Robin said...

I tried the Lardo the last time that I was at The Hoof and, to be honest, it just didn't taste like much to me. I'll definitely look forward to seeing some Larzo on my next charcuterie plate, though.

Jennifer S said...

That's a thing of beauty. If I could have a plate like that, I assure you it would come back CLEAN.

Unknown said...

mmmmm, yummy!!!

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Take care and keep posting!
http://youarecookingblog.com

Chef Alex said...

Why does fat get so chewy when you cure it? Is there anything you can do to make it less chewy?

I like a bit of chew, but meat bubble gum is not so popular.

Alex

p.s. I haven't forgotten about you, You'll have some Winnipeg Charcuterie coming to you in the new year.

Unknown said...

Alex.
It generally has to do with the feed.
Whey fed is great for lardo. But super crap for salami's.
The fattier the feed, the smoother the fat.

Unknown said...

Also, with chewy lardo . I'll generally serve it warm on a crostini.

fasenfest said...

Yum, just as you said. Lardo or Larzo in Hungary. Let me know when you are in Portland, Oregon and I will give you a taste of what's been curing in the fridge.

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