I have a confession to make. I’ve always been a little (maybe more than a little) scared of fat. Since marrying someone who became a livestock farmer and becoming a farmer myself, I’ve been curious about where this fear really comes from.
Growing up, I was extremely body conscious and acutely aware of anything that was perceived as “bad” for you. Back then, the messaging was as clear as day. Low fat milk, fat free yogurt, margarine, lean low-fat meats or no meats at all were the “good” foods, and then there were the “bad,” fatty foods.
I’m guessing that I was never explicitly told all about these distinctions, or at least I don’t remember such a conversation occurring back then. It was just sorta implied, it was a “truth” I learned from all the messaging and marketing at home, at school, and at grocery stores or restaurants.
But as I’m sure you’ve noticed, the tide has shifted here. Healthy simple fats from high quality sources are now IN and low-fat and highly processed foods are OUT. Nowadays, we can hear chefs on the Netflix foodie docu-series say that fat is where the flavor is and actually celebrating fat. And the nutritional gurus and keto enthusiasts saying that fat is where the most important nutrients are.
The full fat yogurt was the first step in my journey to feeling more comfortable with fat. Then came the introduction to our pasture raised ducks (a notoriously fattier meat), and then pork chops with the caramelized fat cap around the edges. All these things challenged that old “truth” of mine and actually made my taste buds do a happy dance. But pork lard, rendered from our own pigs, was at one time, a HUGE stretch for me.
That is, until Greg started slipping it into basically everything he cooked. From fried eggs in the morning, to weeknight stir-fry dinners, to pie crusts. He started cooking with pork fat almost every day and along the way I learned that cooking with really good fat just tastes so much better. The giant plastic jugs of organic olive oil shipped in from California started looking a lot less appealing, too.
So, maybe it’s the flavor, or the nutritional properties, or the obvious environmental reasons, but we’ve officially made the shift in our household and there’s not turning back now. We still use other oils, too, but when it comes to frying, sautéing, or a fair amount of our baking, pork lard is now our go-to ingredient.
Cooking with pork fat is not for everyone, that much I know for sure. If this whole concept scares you to death, as it once did for me, don’t stress. Take a deep breath, and know that wherever you are in your food journey we support you, too.
But If you want to go back to your roots and use the ingredient your grandma probably used in all her cooking back in the day, come see us at the Brighton Market this weekend because we’re bringing our first batch of perfectly rendered, snow white lard from our pasture raised pigs this week!
Your Farmers,
Jenney and Greg