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How to prepare the perfect speck at home? Salt the lard or rather smoke it? In every family a different recipe for preparing speck or pork belly is passed down. It’s best to use back fat (hřbetní sádlo), but you can also prepare belly fat or pieces with meat in the style of bacon — it depends on which cut you bring home from the butcher. Then all you need at home is a supply of salt, onions and garlic. Anyone can make this speck, and a big advantage is the possibility to freeze the finished product for storage.
Ingredients
What will you need to prepare a delicious speck with an onion-garlic crust? Prepare for 1 liter of brine:
- salt – ½ tablespoon
- onion – 1 pc
- onion skins – 1 handful
- garlic – ½–1 head
- spices to taste
- pork (lard, pork belly, fatty pork belly) – as desired
Preparation
For this recipe choose a suitable piece of meat from the butcher; it can be pure back fat or pieces of fat with meat, but also pork belly or pork side/belly.
Pour water into a large pot and bring it to a simmer with salt and onion skins to make a brine, add the onion cut into quarters (you can add spices; bay leaf, whole peppercorns, allspice or mustard seeds work well). Then place the fat into the pot so that it is completely submerged in the salty solution with the onion and cook for 10–30 minutes depending on the size of the meat.
After cooking, leave the fat in the salty brine for 24 hours. After that time, remove the meat, dry it thoroughly and rub it with crushed garlic. Now you can add your favorite spices — cumin is suitable, but also barbecue or other preferred seasonings. You can taste the meat now, or let it rest for another 24 hours in the refrigerator so the flavors meld. It’s a good idea to wrap the meat in cling film.
You can consume part of it immediately, store more in the freezer and use whenever friends come by for a drink or beer, or use it gradually in cooking and baking.
