Caul fat

Crépine

What it is

Crépine is the omentum, the fat-laced membrane that hangs over a pig's stomach; one animal yields a single sheet, which is why butchers ration it. English and French both borrow the word from birth — the caul, la coiffe, that some babies arrive wearing, once sold to sailors as insurance against drowning.

In the kitchen

Soak it in tepid water, sharpened with a splash of vinegar if it is heavily salted, until it unfolds by itself — pull at it cold and it tears. Wrap in one layer only: two and the fat cannot all render, and you get a greasy skin instead of a crisp one.

Goes with

Pork Lamb Chicken liver Sage Parsley Prune

Same species

Andouillette Boudin blanc Natural casings Chorizo Ciauscolo Suckling pig

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