If you're having a good time and enjoying tasty food, does that qualify as "fine dining" even if there's no white tablecloth or proper waiter service? Specifically, if you take a pitchfork, spear some meat, and dip it in a bubbling bath of lard, what do you get?  It may or may not be fine dining, but it certainly sounds entertaining and tasty!  BaconUnwrapped.com's Heather Lauer spent some time with Cork & Knife Radio to tell us about the spectacle.

(Click here to listen to the 6 minute interview.)

Heather's relatives in Idaho have been engaged in this sort of cooking for family get-togethers for about a decade, and it turns out this is actually a small industry out west.  In fact, if you Google the term "pitchfork fondue," you will find an astounding 11,800 web pages.  One of the top results is for Merv's Pitchfork Fondue in California, and his web page features a picture of a professionally painted traveling trailer promoting the concept.

For some, the thought of mixing a pitchfork with meat, lard, and a propane tank might be a bit scary.  For others, it just equals good old-fashioned fun.

At the center of this spectacle is a vat holding "several dozen pounds of lard" that takes more than an hour to melt and come up to frying temperature.  When asked if one gets odd looks at the grocery store buying that much lard, Heather responded that she didn't think so because "it is Idaho after all."  She adds that it is, of course, important to use a fresh pitchfork, not one that has already seen duty on the farm.

Just as with any other fondue, you spear your meat, vegetables or whatever you are seeking to fry (just with a pitchfork, not a fondue fork) and then put it in the melted lard.  Wait anywhere from about 30 seconds to 3 minutes or so, and voila, you have crispy food.  While you're waiting for the lard to melt and food to cook, a couple of cans of beer (probably domestic) are what's called for. 

This seems to be a regional phenomenon. Much as in the Northeast we have the New England Clambake for big outdoor dining, and in the South they may do a mighty barbecue, out West, some apparently enjoy deep frying food with a pitchfork. "Maybe it just hasn't found its way east yet," Heather says.

Not surprisingly, Heather felt compelled to try cooking bacon this way.  She attempted both pork and beef bacon and found the beef bacon to benefit more from its lard bath, though with a few extra seconds the pork bacon also crisped up very nicely.

You can read more about the Pitchfork Fondue and watch a video of Heather's family frying up that bacon on Heather's blog.

(Click here to listen to the 6 minute interview.)

Photo courtesy of Heather Lauer.