Nothing to do with poets, knights, armor, or horses—at least not in culinary terms. Barding is the process of wrapping pieces of meat or poultry in thin pieces of fat. Meat or poultry that has no natural fat covering tends to dry out quickly during roasting; barding helps protect and moisten the meat and also adds additional flavor. “What? That sounds sort of gross!” you might say… Wait a minute… anything wrapped in BACON has been barded! Satisfied?!?!