# 235: L is for Leaf Lard

A guest post today from Rachel Ciordas on her day searching for lard and a pie crust in Kansas City.

Jun 05, 2024

What is Leaf Lard?

Leaf Lard is the fat from around the kidney area of the pig and has been highly prized by pie makers for decades if not centuries. Decades ago I embarked on what turned out to be The Great Pie Crust Quest, a 2.5 year journey to explore dough and create a crust that was light, flaky, flavorful and easy to work with. I’d always heard that lard makes the best crusts but all I could find was the boxed hydrogenated stuff in the international section at the grocery store. I wondered if there was another option. Then one day I was given a one pound container of leaf lard and the game was on. After months of experimenting, I found that a dough made with 1/2 rendered leaf lard and 1/2 butter checked off all my boxes.

✔️Light

✔️Flaky

✔️Flavorful

✔️Easy to work with

When Rachel Ciordas of the Substack Next Level Gluten Free mentioned to me that she was going on a hunt to find leaf lard I shared with her a few hints of where she might find some in her town.

Ask your local artisan butcher for rendered leaf lard.
Be sure to let them know that you want leaf lard and not back fat which is of lesser quality for pies.
Check at farmers markets.
Do a web search for leaf lard and you are bound to come up with some places that will mail order right to your door! Here’s are a few.
Rendered leaf lard can be stored in your freezer for one year and at least six months in the fridge.

Now, let’s read on as Rachel shares her journey to find leaf lard and make a gluten-free pie crust with it.

P.S. These ads aren’t real but they are pretty fun.

r/FatEqualsFlavor - British Lard Marketing Board ad (1957) - They knew what's what!

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A Day Searching for Lard and a Pie Crust in Kansas City

By Rachel Ciordas

Recently in a discussion about gluten free pie crusts with Kate McDermott, I mentioned that I loved her gluten free pie crust recipe but I'd like to try it with the lard variation.

I've just always been curious about what that would be like.

She gave me lots of tips on what to look for in lard that you'd use in pastry and pie crusts. You want the very white rendered lard from the fat around the kidneys, not the more beige back fat lard.

Hmm, sounds like a challenge and an adventure to me, one that hopefully results in a pie!

Well, I’ve had so much fun searching for this elusive ingredient and using it in a pie crust this week.

My search began in a new global food market close to my house. They have a HUGE butcher case, and I was sure lard would be available. It was, but I had instructions to look for the very white lard made from the fat around the kidneys, and this yellow melty sort was what I saw for sale. I’m sure it’s lovely but not quite right for my pie.

I took a detour in the same store to look down the Latinx baking aisle, and I did find lard! But when I turned over the package it said it was hydrogenated. That can’t be right, can it? Doesn’t that make it sort of animal-based shortening? I decided to move on.

I had heard that a BBQ supply shop near me had good quality rendered lard, so I took a trip there. The only fats in the store were duck fat and beef tallow.

Then I headed to Natural Grocers, a health food store. Alas, they must have the same supplier as the BBQ store because they had the same brand of duck fat and beef tallow but no lard!

Hmm… perhaps this BBQ town is not ready for lard pie crust? That can’t be true, can it?

I got a lead that a large local grocery store with many Latin products had lard, boy did they, in SPADES, but what was on the shelves said hydrogenated just like the first store.

This store has a small but well-stocked butcher department and when I spoke with the butchers at the counter and let them know I was looking for rendered white lard for pie making they knew exactly what I was talking about! They had small deli containers in the freezer-

Eureka I’ve found it!!

They also told me about other butcher shops in my area that kept this on hand for people in the know. Phew, next time will be easier!

When I got home, I put the container in the fridge for a chill so I could follow Kate’s wonderful gluten free pie crust recipe.

As the recipe directs, I cut the lard into small chunks (it was a little unwieldy to grate, which is what I do with butter. (Perhaps I need practice? I only used half, so I’ll try again with the next pie). I used my food processor to bring the crust together with the dry ingredients, lard, egg, and water.

I ended up with a smooth easy-to-roll dough that I chilled then rolled out on parchment paper dusted with gluten free flour.

I considered using this animal-based crust in a savory recipe, a spinach and feta pie, or a tomato tart (perhaps it would remind me of a BLT?)

But really I wanted to see how it would fare with a sweet recipe. Would it be strange? Sweet and salty?

I lined a deep pie tin with the lardy crust and filled it with a blueberry filling. I followed Kate’s sour cherry pie filling recipe using instead of the cherries, blueberries and I added 2 Tb of lemon jam from my fridge, to make up for the blueberries being a little less sour than the sour cherries in the recipe. Later on in the season, I plan to make it with sour cherries from my father’s tree, a pie favorite.

Wow, this crust was so flaky and short. So tender it almost melted and yet strong enough to hold up the pie. The flavor? Friends, gorgeous pastry flavor, this did not have a hint of “meat” flavor and was beautiful with the blueberries and lemon.

My final pie was finished late at night after a day of searching for the not-so-secret ingredient so I must admit, we ate pie for breakfast the next morning.

Talk about a happy start to your day!