Hey, if you are looking for a power punch of porcine paradise look no further than a freshly par-baked batard wrapped in fresh herbs, bacon or Prosciutto di Parma and caul fat! then baked again for an extra nudge off that porky cliff of deliciousness.
Now, this may sound kinda shocking but caul fat is the reason why a lot of foods that would otherwise fall apart, stay in shape and have a hint of wondrous fatty goodness in them. Caul fat is the thin layer of net that surrounds the stomach. It can be from cows, sheep or pigs and over the centuries has been used in many foods such as the French Crepinette and veal sausage, British Faggots, Italian Fegatelli as well as being widely used in Russian cuisine and the Chinese make a great crab and pork dumpling in caul fat.
So why not a batard wrapped in caul fat? Well, I’ve been tinkering with foods that hold flavors close to baked wheat and infuse that wrapped goodness into the loaf. Here it is.
First proof the loaves.
Then bake them in a 550 degree oven with or without steam the way you would usually bake a batard or baguette. When par cooked, pull from the oven and immediately place a layer of caul fat topped with bacon or Prosciutto di Parma and chopped basil, cilantro and Italian flat leaf parsley.. Roll up the log and place back in the oven on a tray. The fat will leak a lot.
These batards I baked were for sale so I had to keep the ingredients together for my customers to reheat at home. What is really cool with caul fat wrapped batards is when the caul fat disappears, it creates a misshapen or bent batard or “Bentard”, like the one above.
Remember to always wash caul fat, which usually comes in very large frozen blocks.
I know your moms probably said never to play with your food but she probably never said about playing with and internal pig lining, bacon and herbs. I hope you can try this.
