bottom line is: it’s a fat lot of good
L
ard might be something you associate with your granny and the notion of eating it could seem unappealing at first – but I promise you, lard is wonderful stuff. Sadly, it has been way ‘offtrend’ in recent decades due to the misconceptions surrounding saturated fats being ‘bad’ for us. Thankfully, lard has seen a bit of a revival, driven in part by the rethinking of science on the fat hypothesis but also for flavour and sustainability purposes. Indeed, there are many reasons why we should celebrate its proud, nourishing place back in our kitchens.
Firstly, lard – the rendered fat from pigs –has one of the highest smoking points of all fats and oils. This means it has a more stable chemical structure when exposed to high temperatures, as opposed to polyunsaturated oils such as sunflower oil that, when heated, can create free radicals that can have an adverse effect on our health. This makes lard a much more ‘robust’ choice for frying, and even roasting. Lard also has a pretty impressive composition of healthy fats, in that it contains 40 per cent saturated fats and almost half ‘heart healthy’ monounsaturated fats positively linked to cholesterol levels. Like other free-range animal fats, pastured pork lard also contains omega-3 essential fatty acids that are important for myriad health reasons.