Published 2002
French Products and their American and Italian equivalents French pork products are rarely imported into the United States and often don’t have exact American equivalents. Italian ingredients and Italian-style products made in the United States and Canada often make closer substitutes than traditional American ingredients such as salt pork. French terminology is also confusing because the same words in English may mean something different. For example, in English, “lard” refers to unsalted fresh pork fat that has been rendered. In French, rendered pork fat is called saindoux, while unsalted pork fat, which we call fatback, is called lard gras or simply lard The French equivalent to American bacon (smoked pork belly) is called lard maigre or lard fumé, while fresh unsmoked bacon is called poitrine fraîche. The French also have salt pork, called lard salé, which is leaner than our salt pork (which has no lean at all), and demi-sel, which is pork, usually pork breast (unsmoked bacon), that’s been partially cured with salt. Jambon de Paris is much like our cooked ham and Italy’s prosciutto cotto (cotto means cooked), which have been rubbed with salt and saltpeter (see recipe) or soaked in a salt, sugar, and saltpeter brine. There are dozens of other regional pork products, made from different parts of the animal and involving various degrees of salting, brining, or smoking. Ventrèche, from the southwest, is lean pork breast (brisket) that has been cured with salt but not always smoked, and is roughly the equivalent, when unsmoked, of the Italian pancetta. The French also have a variety of hams, both raw cured (jambon cru, the equivalent of Italy’s prosciutto crudo) and cooked (jambon cuit, the equivalent of Italy’s prosciutto cotto). The best known French raw cured ham is jambon de Bayonne, from the southwest. Jambon de Bayonne is served raw and thinly sliced, in the same way as Italian prosciutto.
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