Potluck Video Explores the Differences of Bellies

Pork Belly is all the rage, but there are other bellies to consider for your culinary exploration.

Chef Roxanne Spruance discusses the differences in bellies with Potluck Video's Ali Rosen. "Lamb belly is awesome," says Spruance. "The smaller the animal gets, obviously, the smaller the belly is going to be, the thinner it's going to be, the less fat it's going to have."

For at home cooking, local butchers usually take bellies and incorporate the bits into sausages or ground meats.  If you're up to the challenge, Spruance suggests asking your butcher for your preferred belly and if you enjoy the experience you can ask for them to set aside belly for future purchases.

When cooking with bellies, Spruance notes that the go-to is the pork belly. She says, "Pork belly is almost kind of neutral in flavor at times which is why it does so well in braises and curing (a preservation/flavoring technique) and smoking. Whereas some of the other game bellies have an intrinsically different flavor to them that you could work with."

The difference, "The lamb, for example, is not as gamy as you would necessarily associate with some lamb. It definitely has a very different flavor and texture than a pork belly does."

Rabbit bellies work as a perfect device for wrapping ingredients. The thinness of the belly allows for an easy, paper-thin pouch for cooking.

Salmon, Hamachi, Tuna, and Mackerel bellies are all recommended by Spruance. She says, "Fish bellies are some of the best part of the fish. After you fillet the fish, under the dorsal fins, the bellies on the fattier fish are an awesome, marbled part. It's like sushi!"