čvarke It’s pork fat. It’s the left-over bits from when you render down chunks of pork fat. It’s soft and crunchy at the same time and tastes strongly of pork. Funny, that. It’s an acquired taste and it’s been on the Croatian food agenda for countless decades. Makes 2-3 cups 1½ kg pork fat, cut into 1½ cm pieces Sea salt, to taste Smoked paprika, to taste Chilli flakes, optional Put the diced fat into a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Higher heat will result in discolouring your fat and probably burn it. As soon as you get it going be sure to turn the extractor on or open a few windows and doors. You’d soon learn why. Every 30 seconds or so you need to give the fat a stir with a spoon; just to keep it frequently moving and cooking down evenly. After about 10 minutes you’ll notice that it starts to go opaque in colour and a bit wobbly in texture. After more frequent stirring the fat is begins to render down at about 10-15 minutes. Keep it all moving every 30-60 seconds as it simmers gently. At about 40 minutes the fat turns into liquid. At this point you can pour almost half of the liquid into a fine mesh strainer lined with muslin, letting it strain into a bowl. Continue simmering what’s left in the pot, stirring occasionally. About 1 hour 15 minutes into the cooking the chunks of fat will have reduced in size and taken on a light golden colour. Continue rendering for 10-15 minutes longer until the chunks turn a little crispy and golden. This is when you turn the heat off and strain it through the muslin. Season the čvarke with salt and paprika (and chilli flakes, if you like) and allow to cool completely before refrigerating in a sealed container. As for the rendered pork fat, you can keep it in the fridge to use for cooking
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 16:05:45 +0000
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