Ukrainian · appetizer

Salo z Chasnykom (Cured Pork Fatback with Garlic)

Salo z Chasnykom (Cured Pork Fatback with Garlic) reads richness 6.8, allium 5.2 and umami 4.3 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Ukrainian appetizer, about 194 hr 25 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 4.9 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.3 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 1.9 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 1.8 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 7.5 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 5.8 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 6.8 · Allium 5.2 · Umami 4.3 · Salinity 3.7 · Herbaceous 2.6 · Nutty 2.5 · Warm Spice 2.5 · Sweetness 2.1 · Citrus 1.7 · Earthy 1.6 · Funk & Ferment 1.5 · Bitterness 1.4 · Floral 1.3 · Heat 1.2 · Fruity 0.9 · Sourness 0.6

What's in it (10)

• pork fat — 1000 g
• salt — 150 g
• garlic — 36 g
• black pepper — 30 g
• sweet paprika — 15 g
• coriander seed — 10 g
• bay leaf — 2 g
• dried summer savory — 4 g
• rye bread — 100 g
• onions — 220 g

Time & effort: about 194 hr 25 min (25 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 438.7 kcal, 7.2 g protein, 42.5 g fat, 7.2 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

1. Ask the butcher for back fat, salo, from the back of the pig, at least 4 cm thick with the skin on. This is not streaky bacon and it is not belly; it is a firm, dense, almost sweet fat with no meat streaks, and a slab with meat running through it will go tough and rancid instead of curing clean.
2. Stab the slab all over with a thin knife and push a sliver of garlic into each cut, about 2 cm apart.
3. Bury the slab in the coarse salt in a non-reactive box, skin down, so no surface is exposed. Refrigerate 3 days. You cannot over-salt salo this way; it takes up only what it needs.
4. Brush off all the loose salt with a dry cloth, do not rinse.
5. Rub the whole surface hard with the black pepper, paprika, cracked coriander, crumbled bay and savory.
6. Wrap tightly in baking parchment, then in a cloth, and refrigerate a further 5 days for the spices to strike through and the texture to firm.
7. Put it in the freezer for 2 hours before serving. Cold salo slices; room-temperature salo smears.
8. Slice as thin as you can hold the knife, almost translucent, and serve on dark rye with raw onion rings, a shot of horilka and nothing else. It is cured, never cooked or smoked in this form.
9. Substitutions: thyme can stand in for the dried summer savory.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Kubdari (Svan Hand-Chopped Meat Bread) — Georgian
• Pork Chops alla Pizzaiola — Italian-American
• Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe — Cajun/Creole
• Broccoli Cheddar Soup — American
• Penne alla Vodka — Italian-American

Keep reading: what richness, allium, umami mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.