Manteca

In many Spanish-speaking kitchens, manteca means rendered pork fat, or lard. The word can mean other fats in some places, so the ingredient’s description matters when you’re following a recipe.

Use it to fry or sauté, enrich beans, or make pastry dough tender and crumbly. It is also used in dishes such as tamales and some traditional tortillas.

Keep it cold and cut it into the flour before adding liquid; small pieces help give pastry a flaky texture. Replace butter by weight, but expect a less buttery flavour.

Yes, you can use it for frying or sautéing, but it is solid when cool and adds a pork-fat flavour. For a neutral taste or a liquid dressing, use a neutral vegetable oil instead.

Keep it in a clean, tightly sealed container in the fridge, and use a clean, dry spoon each time. For longer storage, freeze it in small portions so you can thaw only what you need.

When manteca means rendered pork fat, it is lard; the names are not used identically everywhere. Compared with lard listed as a separate food, manteca provides 875 kcal per 100 g, while lard provides 902 kcal.

It is made by slowly heating pork fat until the fat melts, then straining out the browned solids. Leaf fat from around the kidneys tends to produce a milder, finer-textured lard.