Suet
Bos taurus (raw kidney fat) · Meat
Top 10 pairings
Suet is the hard, crumbly white fat that encases the kidneys and loins of cattle (and sheep) — used raw and unrendered, grated or shredded, rather than melted first. Higher-melting and drier than any other cooking fat, it is the defining ingredient of British steamed and boiled puddings, dumplings, mincemeat and traditional pastry, where it stays solid until the batter is hot enough to set and then melts out to leave a light, open, spongy crumb.
Picking a good onedrag
Chalk-white, hard, dryYellowed, sticky, sour
Shredded in the packEveryday bestDried and dusted so the shreds run loose. That dusting is usually wheat flour, which matters if you have coeliac disease or a wheat allergy; reclose it dry.
Colour of the fatA shade creamier, still dry; packed shreds loose and pale
Break a pieceFirm, still crumbling, a thin film of fat left on the hand
Membrane and trimA little clean trim in the folds, dry to the touch
Smell it closeQuiet, mildly beefy; packed shreds fainter, faintly floury