The translation of Schmalz is Lard.
In years gone by Lard was used all over the food industry, to fry the famous Paczkis – “Krapfen” before Ash Wednesday, French Fries, Pates and pastries. Lard is considered the rendered fat of pigs, while “Schmalz” can contain the fat you skim off the top of the gravy of your holiday goose or duck or even rendered chicken fat.
As the goose and duck fat is almost liquid at room temperature pigs lard is added to make it more spreadable. Besides spreading some Schmalz on a hearty piece of double crust rye bread and sprinkle it with salt, instead of butter, with a good “Brotzeit“, can’t be beat. It also is excellent, adding it when cooking Bavarian style Sauerkraut or Red Cabbage.
So you bought a whole boneless pork loin and cut it up into roasts and cutlets and by doing this you trimmed off all the extra fat and trimmings, some with a little bit of meat in it.
Now if you are a good Bavarian it is against your grain to throw the fat out, as you can render it into Griebenschmalz.
Griebenschmalz is the lard that still has the rendered bits of fat or crackling in it. It will keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks. Adding apples or onions will reduce the shelf life.
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs Uncured raw Bacon or Back Fat from Pork with a little bit of meat in it
- 10 g Salt
- 10 g Sugar
- 2 g White Pepper
- 2 g gran Garlic
- 1 dash Maggi
- 1 apple (optional)
- 1 onion (optional)
Directions:
Cut pork into small pieces (¼ inch square). They may still have a little meat on them. Place them in a large skillet over low to medium heat. You may use a lid at any time to help them heat up. Do not use a non-stick pan.
Heat and stir until the cubes start to melt. Continue to heat and stir for an hour or more, until the pieces turn into brown cracklings (Grieben).
If you are adding the apple and onion, peel both, chop fine and add at this time. Keep cooking the fat until the apple starts to turn golden brown, 15 minutes or more. You may add salt, if you wish, but it is usual to salt the dish on the bread just before consumption.
Pour into a crock, do not use glass as the hot fat could burst it. If you would like smooth Schmalz, pour it through a sieve or even cheesecloth, to remove all browned bits. Cool completely.
Serve as bread spread sprinkled with some salt.
Keep the lard in a cool spot. It will keep for many weeks.
If you don’t combine the cracklings with the Schmalz, you might want to save them to use in soups or bean pots. Freeze them in a plastic zipper bag, patting it down until the contents are about 1 inch thick. Then just break off what you need and return the rest to the freezer.