Recipe For All: Škvarky z Sadlem

Time for another classic recipe from my family’s past. This one is loaded with saturated fat but for those that appreciate the old world flavor this is one to jostle those culture feelers. In Czech this is know as Škvarky. The Germans have a similar type of food known as Schmaltz.

• 2 pounds pork fat
• 1 cup water

First, get some fresh pork fat. The label on this package called it pork skin but there was no skin attached to this side of pork belly. It is desirable to not have the skin since you would have to remove and discard it anyway. The color is white and has little to no smell. Rinse it in cold water and let it drain. There may be some pink but definitely no gray or unnatural coloring to the fat. There should be little or no pork meat on this fat. It should be firm to touch. Trim any ink stains from the meat house or any excess meat.

Cut the pork fat into strips one to one and a half inches wide.

Now cube it into the same sized pieces.

Put the pieces into a pot.

Add the water and cook at a medium high heat. You want to stir it to keep it from sticking to the bottom. If there is not enough cooked fat add some water to keep it from sticking.

Stir every fifteen minutes. When the fat starts to cook it will release cooked fat which will eventually fry the cubes. Add some more water until the pieces of fat start turning from white or pinkish to a brown, cooked looking color. Cover. Eventually the cooked fat will increase in volume and the pieces will become crisp. When they become a light golden brown and the frying slows down the cooking is done. You don’t want to over cook these pieces.

Take the pot off the burner and let the fat cool a little. You will be pouring it into another container so this part is only to prevent hot spatters. Pour the finished fat into a cooling bowl. Let it cool off slowly. Cooling it fast will cause it to solidify incorrectly. Refrigerate when the fat turns whitish in color.

Spread on true rye bread and sprinkle some salt on it or cook with it.