A cut of pork from the back of the pig that is high in fat content, commonly used in Southern U.S. cooking, especially as flavoring in beans and greens.
Compound word from 'fat' plus 'back' (the anatomical part of the pig). This is an American English term that emerged in the context of Southern food traditions and folk cooking.
Fatback is culturally and historically significant—it was the cheap cut that enslaved people and poor farmers could afford, and they transformed it into the foundation of soul food cuisine. What was a byproduct became the basis for some of America's most celebrated food traditions.
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