Larding

Larding threads long, thin strips of chilled pork fat through a lean cut of meat, most often beef, veal, poultry or a firm fish such as tuna, using a hollow or U-shaped needle called a larding needle or lardoir, so fat is distributed through the interior of a cut that would otherwise cook dry. The technique dates to medieval Europe, where nobility hunting lean, muscular wild game used it to add fat that the animal's own meat lacked, functioning as a hand-worked substitute for the natural marbling found in fattier, farm-raised meat, improving both its flavor and tenderness when braised or roasted. The fat strips are cut quite thin, about three millimeters to a side, and kept well chilled so they hold their shape as they are threaded into the meat.