Ingredients
Scale
- 1 kg top-quality pork back fat, preferably from a Mangalitsa pig, or a Gloucestershire Old Spot, Berkshire, or other fatty heirloom pig breed
- 10 peeled garlic cloves, ground to a paste
- 5 bay leaves, ground to a fine powder in a spice grinder
- 4 Tbsp. Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. whole black peppercorns, ground to a fine powder in a spice grinder
- 2 Tbsp. Hungarian hot paprika
- 2 Tbsp. smoked chili flakes from Daphnis & Chloe, ground to a fine powder in a spice grinder
- 2 tsp. nigella sativa seeds, sometimes called onion seeds or kalonji, ground to a fine powder
- ***
- For garnish:
- Russian-style black bread (recipe is on the blog)
- Russian-style pickled fruits and vegetables (recipes are on the blog)
- Honey Pepper Vodka or your favorite style
Instructions
- Rinse the pork fat under the water, dry it with paper napkins. Wrap in parchment paper and leave in the fridge to ‘cure’ for 1 week. If the paper becomes too moist, replace it as needed.
- Dry the salo thoroughly after one week with paper towels, re-wrap it in new parchment paper and let it sit one more day in the fridge.
- Remove, unwrap and place the fat on a cutting board. Then, make 2-3 mm cuts using a knife on the top side of the fat.
- Combine the garlic and bay leaf, rub into the pork fat and press into the cuts. Combine all other seasonings, rub into all surfaces of the pork fat.
- Re-wrap salo in a new piece of parchment paper and put into the fridge for two more days. It is then ready to eat, but must be consumed within a month. Or, you can put it in the freezer – frozen lard is actually much easier to cut into thin slices. Serve with garnishes and booze.
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
- Category: Recipes
