What does barding mean?
Barding is a term with two distinct lives. In the kitchen, it names the technique of wrapping lean cuts of meat, game, or poultry in strips of fat or bacon before roasting, so that melting fat bastes the surface and keeps the flesh moist — a close cousin of larding, which threads fat inside the meat instead. The word also survives from medieval Europe, where barding described the armor of cloth, leather, or steel plates fitted over a warhorse, protecting it alongside its rider. Both senses trace back through Old French, and both convey craft and care: the cook's attention to a delicate roast, the armorer's attention to an expensive mount. Today the culinary sense dominates, appearing mainly in cookbooks and food writing, while the equestrian sense surfaces in historical and museum contexts.
Strips of fat or bacon laid over lean meat or poultry before roasting to keep it moist; the act of doing so.
"Traditional recipes call for barding the saddle of hare with pork fat."
Usually treated as an uncountable noun in modern cookery.
Historically, the armor of fabric, leather, or metal plates worn by a warhorse.
"The knight's charger was clad in full barding for the tournament."
Chiefly historical; found in medieval studies and museum descriptions.
Barding is normally uncountable; a plural appears only occasionally when referring to multiple sets of horse armor.
"Several ornate bardings were displayed in the armoury gallery."
Before knights wore full plate, their horses went into battle dressed in barding — and centuries later, chefs borrowed the very same word for wrapping a roast in bacon.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of barding
Barding entered English from Old French, where barde denoted the trappings and armor of a horse; the term was applied both to equine armor and, in medieval cookery, to layers of fat laid over meat. It is thus a doublet in function of the verb bard, meaning to cover meat with fat or to armor a horse. Despite the identical spelling, the Celtic word bard — the poet-singer of Irish and Welsh tradition — comes from a different root entirely.
Related word forms
How barding is actually used
In modern usage the word belongs chiefly to professional cookery writing and appears most often in the singular as an uncountable noun. The equestrian sense is now largely historical, encountered in discussions of medieval warfare and museum contexts.
Easily confused with barding
A bard in the Celtic sense is a poet-singer of oral tradition, whereas barding refers either to wrapping meat in fat or to armor for horses — unrelated meanings despite the shared spelling.
Larding inserts strips of fat into the interior of meat with a larding needle, while barding lays fat over the outside surface.