The Joy of Schmaltz

I wrote this up for a living history event I'm attending tomorrow, and it occurred to me that perhaps some of my LTH friends might be interested in it as well:

"Fat is used all over the world. It's an incredible, incredible vehicle for creating other flavors and bringing other flavors into the pan. I think it's vastly overlooked... Our bodies need fat; that's where we get energy from. Fat is not an evil word, fat is good."
-- Andrew Zimmern, The Travel Channel

The Joy of Schmaltz

Dear guests,

As one of your humble cooks, I volunteered to roast a goodly number of fresh, locally grown chickens for our feast this evening. My enthusiasm for sharing one of my favorite recipes soon became overshadowed by the enormity of the task I found myself facing: roasting twelve birds and breaking them down for 80 people in my apartment kitchen. Long story short: spatchcock for the win!

Once the birds were chilling after their ordeal, I found myself with a pile of bones, offal, and a good quart of fat. The bits were easy: I started a pot of chicken stock. But I couldn't bear to just throw away the fat trimmings and the puddles of golden, rich oil left over from roasting. So I decided to do a bit of research and find a way to share the unexpected bounty with our populace.

Some quick online reading confirmed that chicken and goose fat was indeed a staple food throughout history. The dietary restrictions of the Jewish religion made it a particularly prized fat, especially for the Ashkenazi Jews of northeastern Europe. Instead of butter or tallow for their cooking, the Jews of Spain and the rest of the Iberian peninsula (the Sephardic Jews) could use olive oil, and the Mizrahi Jews of the Middle East could use sesame oil, since they were pareve (neither milk nor meat). But these oils weren't easily available to the Ashkenazi, who became so skilled at raising fat geese that their foie gras eventually became highly sought after, as well.

The earliest evidence of European Jewish communities (besides small groups and traveling merchants) was a substantial population in northern Gaul during the Middle Ages. The word schmaltz (also spelled schmalz or shmalz) was originally from the German word for "rendered animal fat" (which included tallow and lard), but when Yiddish emerged as a result of the mixture of Hebrew, Medieval German, and Aramaic between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, the Jews adopted the word schmaltz as meaning "the fat rendered from domestic fowl." The word later followed into common English usage.

Homemade schmaltz is made by cutting chicken or goose fat into small pieces and melting in a pan over moderate heat, generally with onions. After the majority of the fat has been extracted, it is strained through a cheesecloth into a storage container.

The expression "falling into the schmaltz pot" refers to the concept of having something good happen to you, often by sheer luck. Someone who happens to have good luck is given the reputation of being a schmalz. A derived Polish word szmal is a colloquial term for cash, especially in larger amounts.

Today's chefs are rediscovering the versatility and flavor of this historic ingredient, and in the spirit of economy and adventure, I decided to share it with you all today. Please enjoy a sampling of a beloved traditional Jewish nosh: a slice of rye bread spread with fresh homemade schmaltz, sprinkled with a bit of salt.

Thank you for reading, and L'Chayim!

Sources:
The Book of Schmaltz: Love Song to a Forgotten Fat by Michael Ruhlman (2013)
Yiddish: A Linguistic Introduction by Neil G. Jacobs (2005)
The Economic History of European Jews: Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages by Michael Toch (2012)
YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe
Michael Ruhlman's conversation with Andrew Zimmern about fat and schmaltz on splendidtable.org

Loved your post! While I'm not Jewish, I have certainly learned that schmaltz is critical in making great chopped chicken liver!