_Mode_.--Bacon for larding should be firm and fat, and ought to be cured
without any saltpetre, as this reddens white meats. Lay it on a table,
the rinds downwards; trim off any rusty part, and cut it into slices of
an equal thickness. Place the slices one on the top of another, and cut
them evenly into narrow strips, so arranging it that every piece of
bacon is of the same size. Bacon for fricandeau, poultry, and game,
should be about 2 inches in length, and rather more than one-eighth of
an inch in width. If for larding fillets of beef or loin of veal, the
pieces of bacon must be thicker. The following recipe of Soyer is, we
think, very explicit; and any cook, by following the directions here
given, may be able to lard, if not well, sufficiently for general use.
"Have the fricandeau trimmed, lay it, lengthwise, upon a clean napkin
across your hand, forming a kind of bridge with your thumb at the part
you are about to commence at; then with the point of the larding-needle
make three distinct lines across, 1/2 inch apart; run the needle into
the third line, at the further side of the fricandeau, and bring it out
at the first, placing one of the lardoons in it; draw the needle
through, leaving out 1/4 inch of the bacon at each line; proceed thus to
the end of the row; then make another line, 1/2 inch distant, stick in
another row of lardoons, bringing them out at the second line, leaving
the ends of the bacon out all the same length; make the next row again
at the same distance, bringing the ends out between the lardoons of the
first row, proceeding in this manner until the whole surface is larded
in chequered rows. Everything else is larded in a similar way; and, in
the case of poultry, hold the breast over a charcoal fire for one
minute, or dip it into boiling water, in order to make the flesh firm."
ROAST LOIN OF PORK.