# Lard



## tracey1 (Nov 5, 2010)

Hi All

Does anyone know if you can find Lard anywhere in Greece?

Thanks
Tracey


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## Jolly Roger (Dec 4, 2011)

tracey1 said:


> Hi All
> 
> Does anyone know if you can find Lard anywhere in Greece?
> 
> ...


Probably not, havn't come across it anyway. If you are making pastry, you will have to use marg or butter.


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## tracey1 (Nov 5, 2010)

thanks for the reply.

what a shame, I wanted to make my mince pies with the pastry recipe my grandmother used.....


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## The Grocer (May 30, 2010)

You could of course always make your own.......

Try to find and use only the fat from around the kidneys of the pig--what's called "leaf" lard.
I doubt if any butchers in Greece will use it and probably give it to you for free. 

Chop the fat into at least 1" cubes, taking any meat chunks off in the process. Some folks put it through a meat grinder. In any event, you want small pieces; otherwise you won't get as much fat out.

Heat your oven too 225°F. Put about a quarter-inch of water at the bottom of the pot; this keeps the fat from browning too much at the beginning, and it'll burn off in time. Add your chopped-up fat. Pop it in the oven for at least a couple of hours, stirring now and then. Eventually the chunks won't give up any more fat--it'll become obvious, the chunks will look the same after an hour as they did before.

As you're doing all this there will be a distinct smell. Some people like it, some people don't. If you can do this outside so much the better.

Let the lard cool to lukewarm; while it's cooling is a good time to gather up your jars and lids and make sure they're clean and ready to go. There are various methods to filter out the bits of meat and unrendered fat--the cracklings--from the lard, but what I use is a paper coffee filter and cone. Ladle the still-liquid lard, skipping the bigger chunks, into the filter.

Refrigerate the lard and use it within a month. If you've made more than you can use in a month, it freezes well.


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## tracey1 (Nov 5, 2010)

thank you so much for this, I think I will give it a go.....


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