Bayerisches Griebenschmalz

Bayerisches Griebenschmalz belongs to the Bavarian Brotzeit, the bread-time cold meal, especially after the cold-season Schlachtfest, the pig slaughter that filled the jars before winter. I set it down with dark rye or Bauernbrot, sour cucumbers, radishes, and a knife that can stand up to it. On a weeknight it is supper. On a Sunday it waits on the table before the roast.

The regions argue in the fat. Bavaria wants pork fat, coarse Grieben, onion, apple, marjoram, and often a little caraway. Farther north you meet Gänseschmalz, goose fat, smoother and paler; in some western kitchens the onion is the point and the apple disappears. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. German cooking has no single national jar, and this one is not from a jar anyway.

The deciding work is the render. I start the fat cold with a spoon of water and keep the heat low because the fat has to melt before the meat bits brown. Rush it and the outside scorches while the inside stays hard. Wait until the fat is clear before the onion and apple go in, because their water would keep the cracklings soft if they joined the pot too early.

Then the crock has one last rule: stir while it cools. The fat thickens from clear to cloudy, and that is the moment to move the cracklings through it so every slice of bread gets some. Weggeworfen wird nichts. Fat trim, belly bits, a tart apple from the cellar, all of it earns its place. Das braucht seine Zeit.