Does this butter anyone up?

[Geriatrix]

Lard is made from the visceral fat of pigs.

Nope.
Lard is pig fat. It ain't "made", it's just fat and drips off cooked pork. Fry your eggs and bacon in it - Yum!

I think that lard has a fairly broad definition in it's common usage but as a commercial product the highest grade lard known as leaf lard, is obtained from the "flare" visceral fat deposit surrounding the kidneys and inside the loin (Wikipedia).

[661-Pete]

What's that?............or, to put it another way, what are they?

I have no idea. Assume they are 'just what it says on the jar'...

[Geriatrix]

You've not clarified the whale blubber reference - fact or myth?

According to the Wikipedia article on trans fats there is some truth in this:

Normann's hydrogenation process made it possible to stabilize affordable whale oil or fish oil for human consumption, a practice kept secret to avoid consumer distaste.

So it happened, but for how long is not specified in the article.

[661-Pete]

You've not clarified the whale blubber reference - fact or myth?

According to the Wikipedia article on trans fats there is some truth in this:

Normann's hydrogenation process made it possible to stabilize affordable whale oil or fish oil for human consumption, a practice kept secret to avoid consumer distaste.

So it happened, but for how long is not specified in the article.

I remember being told (by my elders and betters) that whale meat was commonly on sale in British butchers' shops (or was that fishmongers?) during WW2 and in the years immediately after, and was not rationed (unlike meat from land animals). So if there was a ready supply of whale meat, presumably whale oil was around, too. Where these whales were sourced from, I do not like to think (RN torpedo practice, perhaps? )

[Mr. Viking]

Lard is made from the visceral fat of pigs.

Nope.
Lard is pig fat. It ain't "made", it's just fat and drips off cooked pork. Fry your eggs and bacon in it - Yum!

I think that commercial lard is made from visceral fat because it is easy to separate. I'm glad I'm not the only one who saves up the grease to fry stuff in, hate the idea of pouring it down the drain

[661-Pete]

I think that commercial lard is made from visceral fat because it is easy to separate. I'm glad I'm not the only one who saves up the grease to fry stuff in, hate the idea of pouring it down the drain

It appears to have a good shelf life...

[Geriatrix]

I remember being told (by my elders and betters) that whale meat was commonly on sale in British butchers' shops (or was that fishmongers?) during WW2 and in the years immediately after, and was not rationed (unlike meat from land animals). So if there was a ready supply of whale meat, presumably whale oil was around, too. Where these whales were sourced from, I do not like to think (RN torpedo practice, perhaps? )

Well it certainly happened in South Africa because my mother told me that whale meat was used as a beef substitute during WW2. She said it tasted awful.

Interestingly snoek (a type of barracuda fished off the South African coast) was imported into Britain as a wartime food and like whale meat it acquired a hated reputation. That's something that surprises most South Africans because in SA smoked snoek is a prized delicacy, and fresh snoek is a popular barbecue fish Cape Town. I suppose its all in the preparation.

[Vorpal]

According to snopes, margarine was first produced in France, and initially called oleomargarine; nothing to do with turkeys

That makes sense, as some of my grandmother's generation called it 'oleo'.

I much prefer butter. I like the taste, and I know basically where it came from and how it's made. I've never been convinced that a bunch of processed vegetable oils are any better.

[Mick F]

Lard.
The definition:

[kwackers]

I've never been convinced that a bunch of processed vegetable oils are any better.

I think that's just how you've phrased it.

Seems to me that animal fats will always be worse than vegetable oils...

[Vorpal]

I'm vegetarian, too!

[simonineaston]

A mate of mine has always made a wry comment when offered marg., which is, "No Thanks - I'm not putting anything in my tummy that's just a couple of molecules away from plastic!" I always thought she was using artistic licence, so I'm amused to learn she has been right all this time...

[Geriatrix]

A mate of mine has always made a wry comment when offered marg., which is, "No Thanks - I'm not putting anything in my tummy that's just a couple of molecules away from plastic!" I always thought she was using artistic licence, so I'm amused to learn she has been right all this time...

That assertion is fairly meaningless though and could be applied to a lot of natural products we eat (and marg is still derived from a natural product). Plastic or polymer chains are essentially complex chains of lipids so what separates plastics from the oils that we eat are a few chemical bonds. What's said about marge could be generalised to any oil or fat.

Food scientists have tried to use this feature to make calorie free cooking oil. Our digestive tract has evolved to digest what nature produces so by tweaking the orientation of one or two chemical bonds it is possible to produce an oil we can't digest but still behaves with the same physical properties as a cooking oil, and still tastes the same as a cooking oil.

Food scientists did in fact succeed but their product had unfortunate unintended side effects. An oil that passes unchanged through the digestive tract must eventually emerge at the other end. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

[Geriatrix]

Lard.
The definition:

Screen shot 2013-04-11 at 20.29.03.png

That definition is incomplete. Where's Roy Hattersley in that?

[bigjim]

I'm of the opinion that as long as you don't overload on any one item of food then your body will deal with any small impurities or chemicals it dislikes. I change my breakfast each day rather than constantly eating the same thing. I love Lurpak but it's always spread thinly. I once read that as long as you drink plenty of water you won't come to much harm. I'm probably completely wrong but whatever.
I know we always hear these tales, but I spent much of my young life on the family farm in Ireland during the 50s/60s. We drank milk straight from the cow. Made our own butter. It was spread on soda bread in the mornings and fried. God it was delicious!
But of course we had a hugely varied diet. All home grown or killed or poached from the local Lord's rivers and forests.
One of my grans died in her sleep at 88 and the other passed away at 99. They both smoked like troopers.