re:There's fat and there's fat.
Shall we start a nutrition thread? Helen, where art thou?
a recent article in The New Yorker, talked about fat.
there are several basic fats. Animal fats, which tend to be solid at room temptuture, and vegetable fats, which tend to be liquid. (oils)
animal fats have high percentages of cholesterols (from a root word meaning yellow, lest any one think this is not about words!) which can cause problems for people who ingest them.
Vegetable fats are free of cholesterols, but some vegetable fats, are naturally solid at room tempeture. (notable, coconut "oil", and several other oils from tropical plants, i.e., palm oils )
the reason they are solid (details will be provide by the real chemist on Board) is they are naturally "hydogenated".
Hydolizing or hydogenating (similar if not the same processes) make the molocules of the fat longer, and as a side effect make the fat solid at room temps. Crisco shortning is prime example. it also extends the fat shelf life, (Crisco takes years to go rancid) and allow you to use them at higher cooking temps before they break down.
but it seems, your body also has trouble breaking down these fats, and as a result, even though they are cholesteral free, these fat are almost certainly even worse for you than LARD.
the french diet is rich in fats, and many are natural cholesterol high animal fats. the american diet tend to replace these with hydogenated fats.
McDonalds is a fine example, they used to cook there fries in beef tallow. (a fine fat, that gave the fries a great taste) now they use a "Crisco" type hydogenated cholesterol free vegetable fat.
Is sound better in the ads "Cholesterol Free" but it is almost certainly worse!
and to not total loose track, why the leaf in leaf lard-- i know what leaf lard is.. the very best, finest lard, made exclusively from the fat on top of the kidneys.
other interesting fat names include caulfat, fatback,
ghee. I bet there are others.
