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Interestingly enough what seems to have killed lard, at least the most common domestic use of it (making fries), in France and Belgium really is hydrogenated ve
by Bayart 8y ago
Interestingly enough what seems to have killed lard, at least the most common domestic use of it (making fries), in France and Belgium really is hydrogenated vegetal oil. Fries simply taste better. And it's also much worse for your health.
Since it was commercialized just after WW2 and lard had been used as a butter substitute during the war there was a favourable context for it to happen.
Lard is still used extensively in butcher shops as part of pork preparations (rillettes, grattons etc.). Mostly traditional/regional stuff.
- thepangolino 8y agoHydrogenated vegetal oil comes nowhere near lard when it comes to taste for fries. I’m a Belgian talking so maybe I’m biased.
- gutnor 8y agoI think the argument is that animal fat is harder to maintain and more expensive than super-cheap "never" spoiling industrial fat ? BTW isn't beef fat used to make Belgian fries ? I agree with you though, traditional fries made with animal fat is in a league of its own. In the UK, you can find lard pretty much everywhere. The little Tesco express down the road will have some.
- n-i-c-e 8y agoThe lard you find in supermarkets is tasteless, hydrogenated dross, fit only for making soap. If you want actual lard, and you don't want to pay through the nose to get it from a specialty provider, you can visit your local butcher and ask for fat trimmings (tell him you're going to feed them to your dog if he has any misgivings) and render it yourself. It'll cost you next to nothing and it's extremely good for you. While you're there, pick up a few marrow bones too. And some offal. I get about 40% of my calories from lard/tallow, and I've never felt better.
- gutnor 8y agoLiving in London right now. Finding bone marrow, fat trimmings, or most of the cheap by-product of whole animal butchering is not as easily available even from a good local butcher. Some butcher still do, I manage to find some stuff in halal butcher and random butchers around town, but 40 min travel to find a bag of bone is not something you do past the exitement of the first time.
- mauvehaus 8y agoContext for those not in the know: the Belgians excel at fries (pomme-frites/frites) in a way that other nations can't even imagine. If you find yourself in Belgium, you should get some frites. If you're there in mussel season, get a moules-frites. My favorite joke about Belgium is that the world's largest friterie/frituur is on the border between Holland and France.
- rags2riches 8y agoMy nearby Belgian styled restaurant pushes made with real beef tallow as a selling point. Their fries do taste great.
- user5994461 8y agoDo you mean sunflower oil? That's the only oil I've seen in homes in France to cook fries.
- Bayart 8y agoI mean Végétaline, hydrogenated coco oil.