Lard Throughout History

Lard is nothing more than rendered pig fat, which has been part of human food consumption since prehistoric times. Fat is pulled from deposits beneath the pig’s skin, and the internal organs of pig carcasses. It is a white substance free from any disagreeable tastes and with the consistency of ointment. 

Lard is less important in the developed world than it once was, but there was a point in time when lard was worth almost as much as the pig’s meat itself. It was without a doubt the most common shortening to be found in Colonial America to fry, make breads and biscuits, or as dressing for vegetable dishes.

It is well-documented that the best portions come from the back of the pig, while the poorest quality portions come from the intestines.

Lard was a major contributor to southern cuisine, where black cooks adopted West African styles of frying to produce fried chicken, hush puppies and other delicious dishes. Bacon was, and still is, an especially prized ingredient. Although traditional bacon is a far cry from its maple smoked brethren of today. The slab of pork belly was cooked slowly, causing the fat to drip from the meat and into a pan. 

Food historians also note that pig meat was universally popular, but lard would have been in very high demand south of the Maison-Dixon line. This is because the south had mostly beef and dairy to eat, with a shortage of pigs. Lard was a popular substitute for butter until vegetable oil came along. The healthier image made lard a difficult sell to a more health-conscious America.

Harnessing the Power of Ice

There is evidence circulating that early settlements harnessed the power of ice for both food storage and food preparation. It’s likely that a glass of ice water was one of the first cooled drinks, but this would have been out of necessity. Based on where the ancients lived, cold caves and mountainous regions full of snowfalls, it’s likely ice storage was just common practice. 

They may have realized that it kept food fresher for longer periods of time, but they were not likely to understand the science behind freezing and why bacteria dies in extreme cold temperatures. It’s possible that even with a primitive sense of ice and its potential for long-term storage, hunter-gatherers would have been able to remain in a single area longer while they stored overkill and scouted new spots to make camp.

Ice making is a fairly recent development. Alexander the Great felt ice was so important that he ordered his soldiers to dig trenches and fill them with snow. This way, the legions could enjoy cooled wine during the summer time. Records from the Mediterranean regions show that ice was frequently carted down the mountain to be sold.

Ice was also viewed in a similar light to jewelry, with fine ice sculptures adorning banquets. The ancient Egyptians, who had established numerous trade routes throughout the Middle East, even had their ice shipped to them from Lebanon.

 
Ice harvesting was prominent throughout the nineteenth century, but it was a dangerous business to get into. Expeditions were sent north into Greenland, where people would bring shipments of ice back after risking their lives to carry it on foot.

Squid, Calamari and Octopus

You don’t find much squid in the US, but it’s a popular food throughout the rest of the world. It’s a highly specialized kind of mollusk that has 10 arms and a body that is shaped like a long cigar. The animal also has fins at the end, and a sack it can use to shoot out some ink as a getaway technique. More than three quarters of the squid is edible, which is remarkable for a mollusk. It’s often pan fried, deep fried or baked, but it is also used in salads and pastas too. In Spain, people eat squid served in its own ink.

Calamari is a type of squid that is found in the waters near Spain. The ink of the squid is blended with herbs and garlic to create a sauce that is served with the dish. The ink is also used in painting, creating a kind of sepia tone when applied to canvas. The name “calamari” comes from Italy; in Spain it is called “chocos” or “jibiones.”

The octopus is most well known for its eight arms, which have suckers on the end of each appendage. They are found in the temperate waters of the Atlantic, and it is related to the squid. In order to make octopus palatable, it is beaten and tenderized repeatedly. Then the arms are cut into small slices, coated with a breading of egg and flour before they are fried in boiling oil. The French also cook with the pouch, which is stuffed and simmered in a white wine and oil mixture.

Eating Horse Meat

The horse has been one of the most useful animal domestications that humans have ever attempted. The animal can be used for transportation, hauling goods from one place to the next, and as a food source. Horse meat has not always been highly sought after, but the horse has played its part in the nutritional development of human beings.

Before humans sought to domesticate them, horses roamed the grasslands of Eurasia. Cave art identified as being from the Paleolithic era focuses on horses as an object of beauty and as a food source. Paintings show people armed with spears chasing them down, or loan pictures of them frolicking. With the evidence currently on hand, historians have come to the conclusion that the horse was domesticated somewhere in the grasslands of Ukraine near the fourth millennia BC.

Horses were primarily used to pull wheeled conveyances, like a plow or a cart, but some historical evidence from the time points to their consumption too. Equine meat was considered acceptable for roughly the first 3,000 years that the horse was domesticated. 

Judaism and Islam are the primary factors for the declining consumption of horse meat. Clerics would have abstained from horse meat as a badge of faith. There were also cases where horses simply didn’t exist in a particular region. 

For the Mongols, the horse was like lifeblood. Genghis Khan used horses to form a kind of Pony Express, where his commands could get quickly relayed from post to post. Riders also used horses as a food source, tapping them for horse blood or horse meat as needed. In fact, most historians would consider it impossible to perceive the Mongols without horses.