This is what pork is all about. The flavor! Whether it is smoked or spiced or roasted, the flavor is what you remember from a good piece of pork. And what makes the flavor? The fat. As Julia Child has been attributed to say, “Fat gives things flavor.”
The fat is what is left in the pan after you cook your bacon and what gets drained into a container to be later used to flavor veggies or rice or potatoes. It is what mixes with the barbecue sauce of Sloppy Joes made with sausage or with the sauce of the pulled pork and what you sop up with the bread or boiled potatoes at the end of the meal. The fat of a smoked ham slice or pork chops melts and flavors the potatoes or rice it is cooked on top of.
We cook pork either by itself or on top of something: such as, bacon cooked first and then eggs cooked in the grease; smoked ham slices, pork steaks or chops cooked over rice or potatoes; pork roast, first pan seared and then roasted in the oven. In the last scenario, the fat is saved for a later use OR the bones and fat are boiled to make a broth for rice or for soup. (This makes an excellent bean soup broth!)
Sausage is used to flavor things. It is added to soups; it is the spice of sloppy joes – 1 part sausage, 3 parts hamburger, spaghetti or barbecue sauce for the sauce; it can be added to a stir fry or to an egg dish.
How have you used pork recently? Let me know by email or in the comments of this post.