Anyone else willing to admit they like fat on meat?

Cafe Society
1

I thought of this because of my ham thread.

This is not a discussion of the health aspects of eating fat. This is a discussion of the eating pleasure of fat. Specifically the fat on meat.
Here’s what I think is delicious (it is a given that I refer in all case to good quality meats and fat, properly prepared. No gristle.):

[ul]
[li]Steaks that are not only well-marbled, but which have thick strips of pure fat all around the edges, which I then fry or grill to crisp perfection, removing it from the steak for that purpose if necessary.[/li]
[li]Ground meat that has a good percentage of fat in it. Pure chuck is a good choice.[/li]
[li]Bacon. With as little meat as possible. Cut thick, fried perfectly crisp.[/li]
[li]Crisp chicken skin.[/li]
[li]Crisp Turkey skin.[/li]
[li]Country-style baked ham, with soft, flavorful fat running through it.[/li]
[li]Prime rib, with the crisp fat from the outside.[/li]
[li]Pot roast with soft fat.[/li]
[li]Lamb chops with fat along the bone, grilled crisp.[/li]
[li]Lamb stew with fatty lamb.[/li]
[li]Chicharrones, also known as pork crackliings: the skin and fat of the pick fried crisp.[/li]
[li]Fatty corned beef[/li][/ul]

Obviously, I find the flavor and texture of fat, especially crisp fat, very enticing. To me, lean meat is nearly inedible. It isn’t moist enough and it is never flavorful enough. There are forms of animal fat that I dislike, such as the big congealed chunks found in some Italian deli meats, but generally speaking, if it’s fat and it’s properly cooked, I like it.

I cannot be alone here. I know I’m not, because Tony Bourdain speaks of the joys of fat, and he’s a chef. But I never hear any regular person admit that they like it.

Again, health debate aside (it IS a debate, too), from purely a flavor point of view, is ANYONE with me on this? Particularly, any other * women? * (I feel fairly sure at least a few guys will agree with me.)

2

Guy here.

I feel so guilty when my kids eat the meat on Broasted Chicken and I pull the residue from the trash and eat the skins which they leave. :eek:

I cook a Smithfield Ham for Christmas every year. My folks came from Southern Virginia. I ate there. If you didn’t eat the fat, then you just didn’t understand life. I follow tradition. I make biscuits from scratch and put ham slices with fat on them. I know it’s bad. But I suck it up and plunge ahead.

3

Is it such a terrible admission? I thought everyone liked fat - it’s where most of the flavour resides. Pretty soon the health Nazis are going to insist that we all drink only mineral water and swallow nothing but the bubbles.

4

Maybe it’s just where I live. L.A., Land of Brown Rice and Tofu.

5

Stoid, our politics are as matter and anti-matter, but in this, and in your ham thread, you’ve proven yourself to be my culinary sister. :smiley:

Permit me to add one thing to your superb list of “things that’ll kill me but they taste so good that who cares?”

When one cooks meat (beef and poultry are best) and they make grease, the grease gets crunchy bits on top…kinda like pudding skin, but crunchier and saltier.

Scooped up with fresh bread, this stuff is heaven.

Artery clogging heaven, but heaven nonetheless.

Fenris

6

Bacon, cooked to a crisp in the microwave.

The crunchy skin of a turkey or chicken.

Crackling, what you called chiccarones. It’s the cooked skin of a ham, sliced into strips and fried. Kind of like homemade pork rinds, but Oh My God.

7

MrWhatsit always fastidiously trims away that thick rind of fat from the edge of his broiled steak.

I just as fastidiously steal the trimmings from his plate and eat them. (Chicken skins too. Oh god, do I love the skin.)

I think I need to go make dinner now.

8

Y’see, FAT means FLAVOR. Fat with garlic or pepper or salt carries more flavor. I have cut back on other fats so that I can occasionally splurge on pure unadu;terated fatty delights.

For example: I buy chicken thighs in bulk. I bone them; reserve the bones for stock, and skin them because they’re more versatile skinned. When the skin bags in my freezer (and OMG, isn’t that a Buffalo Bill-esque phrase) get full, I thaw the skin, then put the skin, a sliced onion and about a tablespoon of water into a cast iron dutch oven over low heat. Leave it for four hours and the fat renders, the skin and onions crips, and I have schmaltz to make latkes and chopped liver with, and about a pound of crisped chicken skin.

Would it be bad to eat the chicken skin? Or would it be worse to waste it? This is why I toss them with kosher salt. garlic powder, fresh thyme and parsley and eat exactly three. The rest get frozen for when I’ve been good or have the munchies.

9

Ohhh… god.

I like my bacon just short of being crisp. So the fat is still kind of, well, juicy. I save my chicken fat for frying potatoes (since I can’t afford to cook duck every other day for the fat).

btw, ivylass, you think the pork cracklins are good, you haven’t lived until you’ve made them with duck skin.

10

** Fenris, ** we have bonded once or twice before. We should hoist a cold one some day. Or rather, dig into some nice fatty meat.

And ** False_God, **it’s funny you should mention the chicken skin. I got my local butcher just yesterday to reserve the chicken skins for me. They called today to tell me they have about 2 pounds already and another 2 tomorrow. yeeha!

And the best part is that it’s all ok for me to eat.

11

Could a MOD please retitle this thread
Hedonists! Come on down!

12

When I was a kid, I loved the fat along the edges of pork chops.

I don’t eat meat much these days though and the thought of pork chop fat now nauseates me.

But some burnt bits of chicken skin is still mighty tasty.

13

Whenever I’m eating steak or roast with a group of people, I always wonder if they are looking at my empty plate and thinking “gross!” I notice that I’m almost always the only one that doesn’t have bits and pieces of trimmed fat sitting on the side of my plate.

I have noticed that there seems to be more people willing to admit to liking turkey or chicken skin than the pieces of fat on a steak or roast.

Also, according to Mrs. Linus, there are few things as scrumptious as a spinich salad with bacon fat drizzled liberally over it (I’m not sure what other kind of dressing, if any is required). Speaking of bacon, here’s another use of yummy fat - instead of tossing the bacon grease, using it to make the eggs and/or hash browns.

mmmmmm I’m hungry now.

14

Pork chop fat, yummy. Haven’t had it in years, but my mom used to get so mad because I’d nibble the fat off the edges, and refuse to eat the meat.

15

Throughout most of our species’ existence, people have prized fatty meat. Why? It keeps you from starving to death! It’s only very recently that a majority of people (in the wealthiest industrialized countries) are getting more fat than they need.

Barbecued ribs, with a nice layer of fat, dripping with sauce…

16

Another fat-lover checking in. Especially the fat off pork. mmmmm.

17

Now I feel like a freak. One of the reasons I became a vegetarian is because of the sheer grossness of fatty meat. The taste and texture makes me gag, much to the confusion of my family.

18

Somone hold 'em down while we all pile on! Heretic.

19

I bought a beef brisket last week. The stupid thing looked like all of the fat had been removed with a lipid-seeking laser. So I asked the girl behind the counter for a big chunk of extra fat to lay on top of the meat while I slow cooked it. She looked at me like I’d asked her to take a crap on the digital scales. Poor thing probably doesn’t know what she’s missing, eating lean meat her whole life.

20

WOW,

I thought the OP was about Anna Nicole Smith.

::D&R::

Slee