Veal, seam fat only, cooked

Seam fat is the fat that lies between individual muscles on a veal carcass, trimmed away during butchering and typically rendered down or left attached to a roast so it bastes the meat as it cooks. On its own it is soft, pale and almost pure fat, with little of the muscle fiber found in a trimmed cut of veal, and it carries the same mild, delicate flavor veal is known for rather than the stronger taste of beef fat. Cooks render it slowly in a pan to produce a mild cooking fat, use it to enrich pan sauces and gravies, or leave it attached to a roast so it self-bastes the lean meat underneath while the oven does the work.

Because it is almost entirely fat, seam fat is best treated as a cooking medium rather than a stand-alone portion, and any rendered fat should be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator, where it will keep for weeks and can be scooped out a spoonful at a time. Per 100 grams it carries 505 calories and 50.2 grams of fat, alongside a naturally low sodium content of 87 mg, so it fits into a low-sodium approach to cooking even though it is calorie-dense in its own right. It does still contain 11.2 grams of protein per 100 grams, or 22% DV, coming from the connective tissue and small amount of muscle mixed in with the fat.