The Slavic east and the Balkans · Volume 27, Steppe, Forest and the Reclaimed Kitchen
Salo
Ukraine
Illustration
- Researched
- Researched from 89 sources in the brief
Fresh pork back fat dry-cured with coarse salt, garlic, black pepper and bay leaf, packed under and over the fat, rested three to four days in a non-metal container per rung two. Sliced thin and eaten on black bread with raw garlic and mustard, or rendered into shkvarky, crisp-fried cubes, to top banosh and other dishes.
As tradition built it
Cured 3 to 4 days.
Ingredients
- 500 g fresh pork back fat
- 3 to 4 tbsp coarse salt
- 7 cloves garlic
- 3 peppercorns, cracked black pepper
- 1 leaf bay leaf
Method
- Dry-cure the pork back fat with coarse salt, garlic, black pepper and bay leaf, packed under and over the fat.
- Rest three to four days in a non-metal container, per rung two.
- Slice thin and eat on black bread with raw garlic and mustard, or render into shkvarky, crisp-fried cubes, to top banosh and other dishes.
What a modern chef changes
Cold-smoked over beech, sliced to order
Rungs 2 and 4
Method
- Cure the fat as tradition dictates, per rung two.
- Cold-smoke it whole on the Big Green Egg over beechwood for several hours at a genuinely low, controlled dome temperature, per rung four, a step traditional salo does not use but which suits the reader's own kit precisely.
- Slice it paper-thin on a dedicated meat slicer rather than by hand.
- Serve it draped, not stacked, over toasted black rye with a dill-and-horseradish crème rather than plain raw garlic, the horseradish freshly ground per the sourcing section below since its flavour fades within minutes.