Traditional fatback
Today we will be talking about a preparation
that is fundamental to traditional culture in Romania, as well as the rest of
the Balkans, fatback. In fact, that is an approximation of the term, since its
preparation may be quite elaborate, and the better term is the Romanian one,
slanina, which is a term derived from the old Slavic word for salt. In fact,
most neighbouring peoples use a similar term, since most of them speak Slavic
languages. Slanina generally indicates fatback and with the rind on, and is
most times salted and smoked, sometimes spiced and seasoned. It is the most
common way of preserving pig fat from the back or belly.
Ștefan Baciu, 26.02.2017, 14:05
Today we will be talking about a preparation
that is fundamental to traditional culture in Romania, as well as the rest of
the Balkans, fatback. In fact, that is an approximation of the term, since its
preparation may be quite elaborate, and the better term is the Romanian one,
slanina, which is a term derived from the old Slavic word for salt. In fact,
most neighbouring peoples use a similar term, since most of them speak Slavic
languages. Slanina generally indicates fatback and with the rind on, and is
most times salted and smoked, sometimes spiced and seasoned. It is the most
common way of preserving pig fat from the back or belly.
Its making is closely related to the entire
range of winter traditions related to the slaughter of pigs in traditional
households in villages. Each area has its own ways of preparing it, and the
methods also vary in terms of how long it is expected to last. In some
villages, it is kept buried in salt. In others, it is kept in a brine. One
version of that is using a brine made by dissolving two tablespoons of salt per
litre of water. After bringing the brine to a boil, crushed garlic is added,
then peppercorns and black pepper powder, thyme, and bay leaves. The fatback is
set into a barrel or a large pot, then covered in the cold brine, and left for
about three weeks. Then it is sent to get smoked.
In certain areas of Transylvania, people salt
the fatback using brine in which sauerkraut was made, which has a distinctive flavour
and salty tangy taste. They add peppercorns and bay leaves to the brine. They
first boil the fatback until a fork can be pushed into it easily, then they
press it. After draining it, it is covered in a garlic paste, then sprinkled
with paprika, sometimes mixed with chili powder. It is then kept in a dry, cool
place. Before refrigerators, people used a room, sometimes a dedicated one, for
hanging out their preserved pork products. In Medieval Saxon villages in
Transylvania, the fatback was kept in rooms set aside in defence towers. Almost
every fortified church in Transylvania has a fatback tower, which is actually
called just that. Every family had its own set of hooks for hanging out their
fatback. You could only go in there on Sundays, because the temperature was
kept low by blocks of ice covered in straw, brought in during the winter
months.
No matter how you prepare it, you can eat the
fatback as is, sliced thin, alongside other entrees, preferably with red onion
or cloves of raw garlic, as the people in villages traditionally do when they
go work in the field. Also, smoked fatback is essential to many other dishes,
because it is the main method of lending a smoky flavour to cooked dishes. One
of them is the famous sarmale. In some areas of Romania, it is even used to
give a smoky taste to meat and vegetable soups, usually thick concoctions eaten
in the cold months of winter. One other popular preparation is the so-called
spiked roast pork. The hunk of meat is stuck with the tip of a knife, and in
the cuts people put cloves of garlic and slices of smoked fatback, which gives
it a unique flavour. In any case, there is nothing like the taste of smoked and
salted fatback.
