I’ve been calling around various grocery stores this week, trying to get a hold of pork fat trimmings so that I can make my own lard for some recipes. One of the stores I called today said that they couldn’t give me the trimmings because they don’t have a code for it. I forget exactly what I said, but it was something to the effect of, “so you’re just going to throw it away instead?” “Yes.”
I understand that it does require some effort to separate from the rest of the waste, so I don’t mind paying a bit, but its upsetting that they have no way to pass scraps along to someone who will use them instead of just tossing them in the waste.
Edit for anyone invested: I called around to a few other stores after making this post. One or two mentioned that they don’t necessarily throw all of those bits away, but often use them for other products, such as sausages. I also found a store that will be putting aside their trimmings for me tomorrow, and they should have more than I need. It’s almost an hour away on the bus, but right next to another store that should have any other hard to find ingredients that I’ll need for the tamales.
Also interesting was that different locations of the same chains had different answers for me regarding even their ability to provide the scraps to me, so the suggestions that a manager might be able to make it happen are probably very accurate.
I’m making tamales, and while I will be buying a big hunk of pork for them, it won’t have enough fat to make enough lard, plus I also wanted to make the lard ahead of time, since it doesn’t need to be super duper fresh. Looking at my notes from last year, I used about 7lb pork shoulder and 2lb lard. The thing is, I asked around about it last year and had multiple butchers say it would be no problem, so I was caught off guard when the staff at those same stotes all said no now. Anyway, I did finally find a butcher that will be saving the fat trimmings for me tomorrow.
My kids have asked for tamales every year since I made them for Christmas about ten years ago, but I am not yet rested up from that batch. Even though we had a tamalada and they helped wrap them, the days ahead making tamale dough (two versions because we have vegans) and fillings (several versions because, again, vegans) it was exhausting. I think it will be either gumbo or oxtail soup this year, and a big pot of beans.
I’ve never heard that word before! Looking it up, I see that my family has essentially been having an annual tamalada for probably close to 10 years now. Grandma used to make them all on her own, and since she doesn’t have anything written down, it’s been a joint effort to make sure the recipe lives on. The family recipe is central American, so they’re a bit different than Mexican tamales, but I do enjoy both!
I also did a side project last year to make vegan masa for the few vegan/kosher guests we have, and then I usually do a second traditional batch when I’m back home so I can practice, make notes, and have some to share with my local friends. It’s definitely a lot of work, usually a 2-3 day project, but it does get easier with practice, and 1-3 assistants.
I found corn broth really improves the vegan dough. You can use cobs to make it, and save the corn for something else. Corn cobs & an onion.