Lard

Lard, manteca de cerdo, is rendered pork fat, a traditional cooking fat in Mexico used for frying antojitos, cooking carnitas, enriching tamal dough and flavoring beans and moles.

Description

Larousse describes manteca de cerdo as the white, oily fat drawn by heat from pork fat and fatback. It suits both long cooking and frying, does not break down until about 210 C and has a fairly pronounced flavor. Mexico produces a dark and a white lard; the white is lighter in color and sells for more.

Use

Lard is the traditional frying fat for antojitos such as quesadillas, tacos, flautas, empanadas and garnachas, essential to traditional breads and tamal masa, and gives its flavor to moles, pipianes and beans. Carnitas are pork pieces fried slowly in the animal's own lard, and chicharrón is fried twice in lard. Flour tortillas were traditionally made with lard, though vegetable shortening has displaced it in much of the northwest. Tostadas de manteca are made from masa worked with plenty of lard. At many Mexico City taquerías, suadero is cooked in fat on a large dished griddle.

Reviews

See also

• Tacos de carnitas
• Chicharrón
• Cazo
• Flour tortilla
• Tostada

References

1. "Manteca de cerdo". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
2. "Carnitas". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
3. "Tortilla de harina". Larousse Cocina (Diccionario enciclopédico de la Gastronomía Mexicana). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
4. "Tacos: qué es el suadero y de qué parte del animal sale". N+. Retrieved 2026-10-10.