The season of celebrations is upon us, and with it requests for leaf lard.

For generations, the best pie crusts were made with lard, or a combination of lard and butter; lard bringing the delicate flakiness, and butter offering great flavor. Then, somehow we got confused about our fats.

We all need fats in our diet to properly absorb nutrients. The unprocessed foods we eat are some combination of saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fatty acids. Most of the fat in a pasture-raised animal is monounsaturated fats in the form of oleic fatty acid, the same fatty acid found in good olive oil that is so often praised for it’s health benefits. The soft leaf lard found in pastured pigs that our great-grandmothers used for pastry making is this type of good fat.

We sell our leaf lard unrendered, straight from the animal. Rendering lard is not difficult, especially if you know the proper techniques for the stovetop or the crock pot. And it makes a heavenly pie crust.