# Cooking question -- omental fat **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2004, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question-omental-fat/277118 "2004-11-29T07:56:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question-omental-fat/277118/1 "2004-11-29T07:56:09Z")
I’m helping a friend translate her Vietnamese menu into English. According to my dictionary, one word translates as “pig’s omental fat” or “net fat”, neither of which is familiar to me. The American Heritage dictionary say omental means, “One of the folds of the peritoneum that connect the stomach with other abdominal organs.” Anyway, right now we’ve got the entree, “Beef with pig’s omental fat”, which I’m guessing is not going to be popular with the tourists, or even comprehensible to them. English is full of food euphemisms for “foods” that would sound scary otherwise, e.g., juice (blood), giblets (guts), tripe (stomach lining), sweetbreads (something I don’t even want to remember), hot dogs (animal lips). Is there a comforting euphemism we can use here? ---
**Author:** ![Etherman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Etherman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Etherman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question-omental-fat/277118/2 "2004-11-29T08:08:45Z")
Likely you are looking for “caul fat” which is a lacy network of fat found on sheeps and pigs stomachs, and used to keep large cuts of meat well lubricated while cooking. [caul fat](http://www.chinesetakeaways.com/Ingredients/Caul%20Fat.htm) [this one](http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/5/A05441.shtml) also calls it “crepinette” ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question-omental-fat/277118/3 "2004-11-29T08:12:38Z")
The common English term that I think applies, pork caul fat, isn’t quite as anatomical, but isn’t the most euphonious either. [http://store.nimanranch.com/escalate/store/DetailPage;jsessionid=8%3A41aad7ff%3A9787306af3c43a10?pls=nimanranch&bc=nimanranch&clist=17803257d1&pc=304-9&cc=Pork&ret=Pork](http://store.nimanranch.com/escalate/store/DetailPage;jsessionid=8%3A41aad7ff%3A9787306af3c43a10?pls=nimanranch&bc=nimanranch&clist=17803257d1&pc=304-9&cc=Pork&ret=Pork) However, fat overall is getting good play these days due to Atkins and the cooking-show-fueled realization that fat adds lots of flavor. Some high-end Italian restaurants in particular have been doing okay selling “lardo,” which is basically, well, lard, served almost as a super-rich cold cut. “Beef a la lardo?” I’d eat it. “Beef cooked with savory pork essence?” No more exaggerated or awkward than many an oriental restaurant menu entry. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question-omental-fat/277118/4 "2004-11-29T08:15:34Z")
From this [delightfully informative page on pig processing](http://members.tripod.com/~BayGourmet/pig.html#4), the coorect euphamism is _caul_. What’s worse is that I knew the answer without having to look anything up. > [@](#): > > When the intestinal mass appears and begins to bulge out of the carcass, continue unzipping slowly, guiding the mass to fall down into the waiting sack. Don’t forget to carefully remove the caul fat, the lacy white covering over the intestines, as this has some superior uses in cooking. Youo can also use the word netting (at least that’s the term I’ve heard on the Iron Chef). ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cooking-question-omental-fat/277118/5 "2004-11-29T08:17:28Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > The common English term that I think applies, pork caul fat, isn’t quite as anatomical, but isn’t the most euphonious either. > > [http://store.nimanranch.com/escalate/store/DetailPage;jsessionid=8%3A41aad7ff%3A9787306af3c43a10?pls=nimanranch&bc=nimanranch&clist=17803257d1&pc=304-9&cc=Pork&ret=Pork](http://store.nimanranch.com/escalate/store/DetailPage;jsessionid=8%3A41aad7ff%3A9787306af3c43a10?pls=nimanranch&bc=nimanranch&clist=17803257d1&pc=304-9&cc=Pork&ret=Pork) > > However, fat overall is getting good play these days due to Atkins and the cooking-show-fueled realization that fat adds lots of flavor. > > Some high-end Italian restaurants in particular have been doing okay selling “lardo,” which is basically, well, lard, served almost as a super-rich cold cut. > > “Beef a la lardo?” I’d eat it. “Beef cooked with savory pork essence?” No more exaggerated or awkward than many an oriental restaurant menu entry. Damn. “Beef crepinnete.” I think we have a winner.