We continue our look at Bread Spreads, focusing on Salo (Ukraine’s national dish). Again, thanks to Elder KM for the suggestion.
al Jazeera has a nice introduction to his pork product:
Salo: Ukraine’s greasy national symbol How one of Ukraine’s most beloved foods inspires comedic parodies and unexpected dishes.
Lviv, Ukraine – A [] customs officer asks a Ukrainian man if he is carrying any drugs.
“Of course,” the man says. “Got three kilos here!”
The [customs officer] sees a chunk of salted, uncured pork fat. “But this is salo!” he says.
“Yes, and I am so addicted to it,” the Ukrainian responds.
This is one of many jokes about salo, one of Ukraine’s favourite foodstuffs that emblemises the ex-Soviet nation, its people and their culinary preferences. It has become a national symbol and object of gastronomic veneration, countless recipes and proverbs.
“If I were a lord, I would eat salo with salo,” one of these proverbs goes.
A waitress at the Salo Museum in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv shows a pork fat figurine of rock-n-roll icon Elvis Presley [Mansur Mirovalev/Al Jazeera]
A practical fat There are many explanations as to why Ukrainians are so addicted to salo.
One is practical – salo is extremely nutritious and needs no refrigeration. Huge slabs of fat are taken from a pig right after slaughtering and the salo is consumed raw, smoked, peppered, brine-fermented or fried. It is never cured and is mostly eaten cold.
Stashes of salo helped Ukrainian peasants stave off famines and survive foreign invasions. When the invaders were Muslim – either from the nearby Crimean Khanate or from its imperial master, Ottoman Turkey – they never pillaged pork and pigs.
The Museum of Salo is a museum dedicated to salo (cured pork fat) in Lviv, Ukraine by Liberty Avenue [uk], 6/8. It is associated with a restaurant, where the dishes are based on salo. It capitalizes on the popular ethnic stereotype that Ukrainians are extremely fond of salo to the extent that it is considered a “national dish”.
The museum and restaurant were founded by German entrepreneur and designer Boris Berger of Jewish Ukrainian and local sculptor Myroslav Dedyshyn. The restaurant is co-owned by Boris Berger and Mark Zarkhin.
Salo sculptures The museum features various sculptures made of lard, as well as paintings and photographs dedicated to salo.
The main exhibit is the giant replica of the human heart made of salo. It is entered into the Ukrainian Book of Records. The heart is equipped with a motor to simulate its beating.
The sculptures that are made for menu dishes are made as follows: the mold is filled with molten lard, leaving some space, then the lard is hardened in a freezer. When served, the space is filled with some hot snack and served. The heat from the snack melts lard, and in 15 minutes the sculpture is gone.
Apparently the Salo Museum is a popular destination for bachelorette parties.
A Life of Luxury
Salo – pig fat – has been a staple of Ukrainian cuisine for time immemorial. Farmers used to wrap a thick slice into a kerchief and take it into the field for lunch. It didn’t melt under the sun and offered enough calories to keep one going through a grueling day.
Since those days of practicality, however, salo-making has become an art. To get just the right texture – melting in your mouth – farmers have lovingly fed pigs with milk and high quality grains to ensure tenderness. Pigs have also lived a life of luxury to maintain low levels of stress since that emotion hardens their fat.
