Phat Times? Yes, Indeed

The secret is out: fat is back. Bone marrow, foie gras, confit, fatback, caul fat, pork belly and, yes, butter and cream are capable of catapulting any mere recipe into categories of myth and lore. So, when our eyes roll back in our head, generating looks of unabashed ecstasy and send us into food-crazed obsession, we can blame fat. Chefs have always known the power of fat, but now openly embrace it as a keystone ingredient and champion its diversity. Even amid tenuous economic times, restaurants and culinary pundits continue to ignore the warnings of leaner days, refusing to trim the fat, so to speak.

Fats, members of the chemical family called lipids, don't mix with water and form necessary boundaries between watery cells in both plants and animals. They are essential for maintaining our chemical balance and are important sources for energy, containing almost three times as much as glucose, by weight. Fat is a long-term storage unit that acts as a safety net after our body uses up all of its glucose or glycogen, a complex carbohydrate.

Fats are indispensable in the kitchen as well. They allow us to heat foods well above the boiling point of water. They are responsible for the crispy textures on the outside of our seared and grilled meats, the rich, concentrated flavors when braising or confiting and the desired melt-in-your-mouth texture of our baked goods. So, why so much debate over fat?

Beginning in the 1950's scientific inquiry backed by the United States government steered the American public away from animal fats and toward "healthy" manmade ones. Much of the evidence presented was unsubstantiated and contradictory, at best. But the public took the bait: hook, line and sinker. The common assumption was that obesity, high cholesterol and heart disease were inextricably linked to a diet high in saturated fats. Low-fat, nonfat and low-carb diets became the norm.

Our health-conscious attitudes relegated fat to the back burner. We have chosen to cook with oils like soy, canola and corn rather than solid fat from animals, based on conflicting scientific evidence. Animal fats are assimilated in ways that help promote increased immune efficiency, healthy skin, hair and bones and regulate our digestive system. According to Jennifer McLagan, in her recent book Fat: an appreciation of a misunderstood ingredient, with recipes, "Diets low in fat, it turns out, leave people hungry, depressed, and prone to weight gain and illness."

Our diets have changed dramatically over the last hundred years. We have shifted from a diet with saturated fats, to one high in monounsaturated and, unfortunately, man-made hydrogenated fats, which contain trans fats. Trans fats are difficult for the body to process and contain zero health benefits. They are now banned in California and some cities.

We have also replaced essential protein and fat with diets high in sugar, carbohydrates and processed foods, which further exacerbate health issues like diabetes and obesity.
Returning to a more natural, conscious and educated approach to food is essential to understanding our diet, and, hence ourselves.

But, I digress.

Underneath the numerous health-related scientific studies and conflicting arguments lies an integral ingredient ready to be unsheathed and proclaim its arrival on the culinary main stage. The secret is, in fact, out: fat is back. Culinary techniques rely heavily on clarified butter, veal stock, duck fat and lardons to enhance any dish. And yes, that includes vegetables. But, fat is no longer relegated for the use of braising, basting, pan-frying or for stocks.

The use of pork fat in cooking is by no means new, but does provide some exemplary examples. In Fat, Jennifer McLagan provides a few obscure recipes that further exemplify its versatility: "Faggots with Onion Gravy," "Kugelhopf au Lard," "Gooseberry Pie" and "Manteca Colorada", to name a few.

Renowned menus from New York to California now reserve a portion of their menu for fat itself, as a focal point rather than a tertiary ingredient. A few of the better examples in New York include Bar Boulud's headcheese, Prune's sweetbreads, Alto's braised veal cheeks and The Spotted Pig's Bath Chap.

Of course, the real reason to use animal fat is for flavor. Through our continuous quest for the best recipes using lardo, suet or schmaltz we will arrive at a higher elevated culinary plateau. Thus, when we do uniformly return to a time-honored cooking tradition in our kitchens fat will again be viewed in the glorious light it deserves. And hopefully, our debates will be confined to a processed, diet-crazed synthetic past.

— Written by Chris Forbes

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