Lard Once Meant Bacon, Not Rendered Fat
Lard is fat from a pig, used in cooking. The French word it came from meant bacon.
Lard is rendered pig fat, used for cooking and pastry. Old French *lard* meant bacon or the fat of pork, and English narrowed it to the rendered form. The verb survives in *larding*, the practice of threading strips of fat through lean meat to keep it moist during roasting. To *lard* a text with quotations uses the same image, and *interlard* means to mix something in throughout.
- Rendered pig fat. *Cooked in lard.*
- To insert fat. *Larding the joint.*
- To intersperse. *Larded with quotations.*
- Interlard — to mix in. *Interlard.*
- Latin — *lardum*, bacon. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | lard | Lard. |
| Verb | lard | Larding. |
| Adjective | lardy | Lardy. |
| Related | interlard | Interlard. |
| Latin | lardum | Bacon. |
- Pastry made with lard.Cooking.
- Lard the joint before roasting.Technique.
- A speech larded with jokes.Figurative.
Why lard makes good pastry
- Its crystals are large, so it coats flour in bigger patches
- That creates layers of dough separated by fat
- Steam lifts the layers during baking, giving flakiness
- Butter contains water, which affects the texture differently
- Many traditional pastries used lard for exactly this reason
Old French *lard*, bacon or pork fat, from Latin *lardum*.
What does larding mean?
Threading strips of fat through lean meat before roasting, so the meat stays moist as the fat melts.
Why is lard used in pastry?
Its large fat crystals separate the dough into layers, and steam lifts those layers during baking to give flakiness.