Smalec

05/07/2012 08:23

You’ve got to respect any recipe that starts out with, “Dice 2-1/4 lbs of white pork fatback (słonina) and render in frying pan until pale golden.” To that, you throw in some salt, bacon bits, onions, garlic, pepper, apple pieces, and maybe a secret ingredient or two in your family’s special recipe, and you come up with a tasty spread called smalec (small – ets).

There’s a place in Kraków called Chłopskie Jadło (Peasant Food). This is where I had my first encounter with smalec, and I have to say that it went surprisingly well. I’d like to go there, or somewhere similar, when we’re in Kraków so that you can get a taste of this uniquely peasant treat. Actually, to call it a treat is probably going too far. But, it is worth trying once. It’s served at room temperature, and you spread it on bread, much like butter. Ewa likes to slice pickles very thinly and put them on top, with a little salt or maybe pepper. It’s a nice appetizer, a light palate cleanser if you will, for the heavier stuff to follow in the main dish (That’s a little thing I like to call sarcasm).

In the end, smalec won’t be the highlight of our trip, but the story you tell afterwards will surely be worth a temporary clog in your heart. That’s why you need to drink vodka with this kind of stuff; it’s the only thing that will burn your arteries clean again.