Sarah

November 20, 2010 at 9:39am

Yum yum yum. But I must disagree about the suet...I was born and raised in Massachusetts, and have never lived outside of New England. Our family enjoys a traditional suet pudding (with hard sauce) at Christmas, and I must say it is not heavy or greasy or suet-y tasting. I also make homemade mincemeat for pies and tarts, using a recipe from a British friend. It calls for minced suet along with the fresh and dried fruits. It is exquisite and my family demands it every winter. I think the key to using suet is obtaining the highest grade of BEEF suet, one that is intended for culinary use. Talk to your butcher. Don't grab the packages of suet off the packaged meat shelf; that is intended for use mainly as bird food, though sometimes you can find good quality suet there. Look for (or ask for) the hard, slightly dry, very lightly colored suet that chips/chops and flakes easily; I believe this is the fat that is above the kidneys. It has almost no odor, and it is not soft. Do not use "suet" that is rancid or soft (greasy!), or that is reddish or discolored or that has bits of muscle fiber or even shreds of the liver or kidneys still on it - this is often starting to decompose even before it gets into the package, and will be disgusting. Don't dismiss suet out of hand - like any other ingredient, it has to be chosen carefully and used properly.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.