In defense of lard

I was the Marion farmers' market this morning (which is about the size of two garages put together), and among the offerings, there was this lady selling antibiotic-free pork out of the back of a truck. While talking with her about the meat, I noticed she had a sign taped to her table. It said "LARD--$1.50 per pound--a natural, traditional fat". When I asked about it she said that somebody had once given her some red-and-white pamphlets and suggested that she sell the lard (which they were just throwing away). "I can't remember the group that it was for," she said. "The Weston Price Foundation," I supplied, being recently boned up on the subject. "Yeah, I think that was it," she said. Upon checking the cooler, she informed me that her son had left the lard at home. "Darn," I said. "It's like the Swiss Army Fat of the kitchen--I'll be back next week."

Lard keeps at room temperature, darn near indefinitely. It's cheap, it's chemically stable, won't rot your veins or your brain, you can fry anything in it and also use it in baked goods. And the taste is divine.

"But," you say. "It's LARD!"

Yes, this pantry staple of traditional kitchens has become something of a culinary curiosity in recent decades. Only your Aunt Patty and those Mexican people use lard anymore. A couple of grocery stores in our area (and there aren't many stores) don't even stock it. The version I eventually found includes hydrogenated lard, although it doesn't say how much. That kinda turned me off until I started cooking with it. I was so pleased that I moved the butter container over and placed it right on the counter. Still, I'd like to find a version from hormone-free hogs that didn't have that hydrogenated stuff in it. So I'll be going back.

Lard, butter, beef tallow, coconut oil, palm oil...these fair fats are so much fun to cook with, that if you get nothing else out of Nourishing Traditions, at least you will not believe those who attempt to demonize these fats. Cooking requires fat, OK? It doesn't matter what kind of diet you follow, but if you cook anything at home, you probably have some kind of fat on your shelves, whether it be Crisco, Imperial margarine, or "vegetable oil" (soybean oil). And--get this--our cells require fat. Yep. A dim memory surfaces...oh yeah...high school chemistry class in 1993, Nirvana all over the airwaves (and the clothes in the stores really sucked). The teacher was explaining how our cell walls are composed of "phospholipids" and only fat-soluble vitamins can get across that barrier. Hmmm...so our cells are 50% saturated fat, says Mrs. Fallon and Ms. Enig. So the one thing we are not supposed to eat is--saturated fat! OK...but we're supposed to eat a lot of vitamins! Especially synthetic ones. Oh, and eat lots and lots of vegetables...for the vitamins! But don't eat very much fat. Not.Much.At.All. OK. What's the downside here? Well, for one thing, people don't eat vegetables like that. It gives us gas (did you sit behind us in chemistry class??). But here's the kicker: YOU CAN'T ASSIMILATE THE VITAMINS WITHOUT ADEQUATE AMOUNTS OF SATURATED FATS!

To be continued...