lolam’s Profile
Recent Comments
Cook the Book: 'Into the Vietnamese Kitchen'
eating healthier, mostly fresh food, and as much as possible - locally grown.
Cook the Book: 'How to Cook Everything, Revised Tenth Anniversary Edition'
his roast leg of lamb!
Holiday Giveaway: Zingerman's Praise the Lard Gift Box
I was 5 years old when I witnessed for the first time the ritualistic killing of the pig for Christmas. It happened on December 20th, as custom requires, in the villages of rural Romania - where my grandparents lived at the time.
I remember the swift kill, the bleeding and butchering - all took place in less than 2 hours, the meat quickly piled up in cuts for sausages, roasts, ham and bacon, or for preserving in rendered fat to last over the winter.
The best moment though was when all the helping neighbors left and my grandfather pulled me by his side, just him and I, and showed me how to roast bits of pork in a big round cast iron pot. He snuggled the pieces of meat in the pot that was placed on the hearth fire and we waited patiently until the meat rendered it's fat and became golden and crispy, while I was gnawing on tender pork skin that was still warm from the fire used to clean the hairs.
And then we had a feast. What I remember even more vividly is when gran' showed me how to dunk pieces of bread in the rendered fat. I can still taste the melted goodness, unlike anything I've tasted before, better than any butter I've ever had.
See more comments by lolam »
Recent Posts
lolam hasn't written a post yet.
Recent Favorites
lolam hasn't favorited a post yet.
Recent Polls
lolam hasn't answered any polls yet.
Recent Quizzes
lolam hasn't taken any quizzes yet.
I made this a couple of days ago and it's really-really good. My reaction after the first taste was "this is not your mother's tomato soup" - absolutely love it. I used canned San Marzano tomatoes. My addition to it was blending it with a hand blender (I love creamy soups) and throw in the serving bowls a few cubes of avocado.
Thank you, it's a keeper!