{"id":46454,"date":"2025-03-18T13:55:28","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T18:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=46454"},"modified":"2025-03-21T04:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T09:14:09","slug":"bread-spread-ukrainian-style-3-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/?p=46454","title":{"rendered":"Bread Spread, Ukrainian Style (3\/3)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We continue our look at Bread Spreads, focusing on Salo <\/strong>(Ukraine’s national dish). Again, thanks to Elder KM for the suggestion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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al Jazeera<\/strong> has a nice introduction to his pork product:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Salo: Ukraine\u2019s greasy national symbol<\/strong>
How one of Ukraine\u2019s most beloved foods inspires comedic parodies and unexpected dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lviv, Ukraine \u2013 A [] customs officer asks a Ukrainian man if he is carrying any drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d the man says. \u201cGot three kilos here!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The [customs officer] sees a chunk of salted, uncured pork fat. \u201cBut this is salo!\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, and I am so addicted to it,\u201d the Ukrainian responds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one of many jokes about salo, one of Ukraine\u2019s favourite foodstuffs that emblemises the ex-Soviet nation, its people and their culinary preferences. It has become a national symbol and object of gastronomic veneration, countless recipes and proverbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I were a lord, I would eat salo with salo,\u201d one of these proverbs goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A waitress at the Salo Museum in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv shows a pork fat figurine of rock-n-roll icon Elvis Presley [Mansur Mirovalev\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A practical fat<\/strong>
There are many explanations as to why Ukrainians are so addicted to salo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One is practical \u2013 salo is extremely nutritious and needs no refrigeration. Huge slabs of fat are taken from a pig right after slaughtering and the salo is consumed raw, smoked, peppered, brine-fermented or fried. It is never cured and is mostly eaten cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stashes of salo helped Ukrainian peasants stave off famines and survive foreign invasions. When the invaders were Muslim \u2013 either from the nearby Crimean Khanate or from its imperial master, Ottoman Turkey \u2013 they never pillaged pork and pigs.<\/p>\nal Jazeera<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Museum of Salo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The Museum of Salo<\/strong> is a museum dedicated to salo (cured pork fat) in Lviv, Ukraine by Liberty Avenue [uk], 6\/8. It is associated with a restaurant, where the dishes are based on salo. It capitalizes on the popular ethnic stereotype that Ukrainians are extremely fond of salo to the extent that it is considered a “national dish”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The museum and restaurant were founded by German entrepreneur and designer Boris Berger of Jewish Ukrainian and local sculptor Myroslav Dedyshyn. The restaurant is co-owned by Boris Berger and Mark Zarkhin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salo sculptures<\/strong>
The museum features various sculptures made of lard, as well as paintings and photographs dedicated to salo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The main exhibit is the giant replica of the human heart made of salo. It is entered into the Ukrainian Book of Records. The heart is equipped with a motor to simulate its beating.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The sculptures that are made for menu dishes are made as follows: the mold is filled with molten lard, leaving some space, then the lard is hardened in a freezer. When served, the space is filled with some hot snack and served. The heat from the snack melts lard, and in 15 minutes the sculpture is gone.<\/p>\nWikipedia<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Apparently the Salo Museum is a popular destination for bachelorette parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Life of Luxury<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Salo \u2013 pig fat \u2013 has been a staple of Ukrainian cuisine for time immemorial. Farmers used to wrap a thick slice into a kerchief and take it into the field for lunch. It didn\u2019t melt under the sun and offered enough calories to keep one going through a grueling day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since those days of practicality, however, salo-making has become an art. To get just the right texture \u2013 melting in your mouth \u2013 farmers have lovingly fed pigs with milk and high quality grains to ensure tenderness. Pigs have also lived a life of luxury<\/strong><\/em> to maintain low levels of stress since that emotion hardens their fat.<\/p>\nKyiv Post<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Elder G’s Salo Joke<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A Ukrainian, a Russian, and an American are having a contest to see who can last the longest in a freezing room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American brings a thick fur coat, the Russian brings a bottle of vodka, and the Ukrainian? He just eats some salo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an hour, the American shivers and gives up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two hours, the Russian, despite his vodka, also runs out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Ukrainian? He\u2019s just sitting there, perfectly fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They ask him, \u201cHow are you not cold?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shrugs and says, \u201cCold? I thought this was just a regular winter day in Kyiv! Besides, I have salo<\/strong>\u2014it’s like wearing a fur coat from the inside!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We continue our look at Bread Spreads, focusing on Salo (Ukraine’s national dish). Again, thanks to Elder KM for the suggestion. al Jazeera has a nice introduction to his pork product: Museum of Salo Apparently the Salo Museum is a popular destination for bachelorette parties. A Life of Luxury Salo \u2013 pig fat \u2013 has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[105,19,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-engin","category-food","category-ukraine"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46454"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46615,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46454\/revisions\/46615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wlbott.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}