Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Hog's Lard
Ingredients
Directions
Render the fat
Cut the leaf fat into 1-inch square pieces.
Place the fat in a clean brass kettle over low heat.
Gradually increase the heat until it boils, stirring often.
Pour the melted fat through a colander into an earthen pot.
Return the remaining fat in the colander to the kettle and repeat until all lard is extracted.
Avoid scorching the fat to maintain flavor and color.
Store
When cooling, transfer the lard into small bladders, tie them securely, and hang in a cool, dry place for long-term storage.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Leaf fat
- Is the fat that melts down into the lard itself.
- Bay leaves
- Add a subtle aromatic flavor to the rendered fat.
- Cloves
- Add a warm, spiced aroma to the rendered fat.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the fat and helps preserve it.
- Whole pepper
- Adds a sharp, aromatic peppery flavor to the fat.
The step that matters
Avoid scorching the fat. Fat that gets too hot burns and turns bitter and dark, spoiling both the flavor and the color of the lard. Keeping the heat moderate while it melts protects its taste and appearance.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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