Lard is so good for cooking, I use it for pretty much all my frying and roasting - just made some pasties (spuds, carrots, onions celery, skirt, courgette) using lard pastry (ratio 250g lard, 250g butter, 600g flour, splash of water) and they have come out so much flakier than my usual pastry. Taste is better too, probably because it's bacony lard from the weekend :-)
I love lard. I also love goosefat. Unfortunately for me (a shameful carnivore) our daughters are vegetarians. Even though they don't live with us they visit often so all my spreads, oils etc are suitable for vegetarians. Makes it easier for meals etc.
Some fish n' chip shops promote that they sell traditional fish & chips but they're not unless they are actually cooked in lard or dripping and when they are you can smell the difference immediately. One prime example I found was when we went to visit the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley a few years back when I really thought that we were in for a treat but they tasted no different to any other fish & chip shop so was really disappointed.
Quote: Originally posted by Ancient Uncle on 15/3/2023
I remember as a young child one of our favorite foods: bread and dripping.
OH’s grandfathers both worked down the pits (one lost his leg in a lift shaft accident). Bread & dripping was lunch. In those days, people burnt the calories off.
Pastry used to be made with all lard in our younger days, whether for savoury or sweet fillings - using butter, or even marg was real luxury, not for ordinary family baking.
On a different tack, I was amazed there were people who had never heard of blancmange, when I posted on here about being unable to find it in shops about 18 months ago.
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 15/3/2023
Some fish n' chip shops promote that they sell traditional fish & chips but they're not unless they are actually cooked in lard or dripping and when they are you can smell the difference immediately. One prime example I found was when we went to visit the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley a few years back when I really thought that we were in for a treat but they tasted no different to any other fish & chip shop so was really disappointed.
Our chippie uses hard animal fat to fry in, the boxes are sat next to the fryer, by far the best for decent scraps.
,A few years ago we went to Beamish outdoor museum,at one of the stops there is a chip shop that does fish an chips done in dripping,there was a huge queue so it was a hours wait but they were gorgeous,a couple of years later we went again but it was earlier in the year,the queue was the same but this time they were a big disappointment,talking to some people outside a few saying its because they were using new potatoes.so anybody wanting to try old fashioned fish and chips go
a bit later in the year
Up our way, the Chinese takeaways make the best fish n chips because they use fresh oil at the right hot temperature. Rancid oil is as horrible as rancid lard.
But you do need fish fresh straight off the boat & the right type of potato (not all of them make good chips, it’s not really to do with being new); Arbroath harbour chippie is my favourite, beats the award winning one at Anstruther for me; and always Haddock, as cod is mainly south of the border.
I am a big fan of animal fat, however, I don't eat it every day except for butter which I have nearly every day at breakfast.
I save the fat from cooking such as bacon, duck, beef and pork. However, I seldom have a roast except for Christmas.
Used to be a 2 different roasts on Christmas and Boxing Days, however, I have decided to cut down and have one roast only. This year will be roast belly pork Chinese style.
Chicken fat is too runny to save.
Chips fried in duck or beef fat are very tasty. Again, I seldom have chips at home unless I am having a steak dinner, which is once in a while nowadays.
I tend to have some chips/fried potatoes when I go out to eat and only from time to time, especially if I see triple-cooked chips on offer, as I am not supposed to eat a lot of starchy food.
A little of what one fancies from time to time is the spice of life I'd say!
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
There are a lot of arguements about whether veg/flower fats are better or worse than lard in terms of saturates, mononsturates, lipoids, pastry made with lard is better than made with butter, etc etc.
I've never seen anything that's convincing enough to persuade me either way apart from my own experience that roasting in a veg oil results in more oil in a potato than roasting in lard (with it's higher smoke point), and a yorkshire pudding is nothing cooked in veg oil.
Even if the evidence in this area was against lard I'd still use lard for the flavour.
I say "lard", the tub in the fridge is made up of all sorts of animal fat, theres probably some duck fat still in the mix from xmas.
I collected so much animal fat in the fridge and was not using them fast enough, I decided to melt them down, mixed with bird seeds and worms, and fed the birds through the harsh winter months.
No derogatory comments please as the birds and squirrels appreciated the food, and yes, I got flamed elsewhere as it is not good for the wildlife etc...
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
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Topic: The Joy Of Lard and Old Fashioned Food
via mobile 15/3/2023 at 3:10pm
