Lard: Good Fat at a Good Time

Now is lard’s time to shine, Regina Schrambling writes for Slate. “The redemption of lard is finally at hand because we live in a world where trendiness is next to godliness,” Schrambling reasons. “And lard hits all the right notes, especially if you euphemize it as rendered pork fat—bacon butter.” It’s natural, it’s healthier—no trans fats—and most of all, it’s delicious.

“Shortening really vanquished lard in the 1950s when researchers first connected animal fat in the diet to coronary heart disease,” Schrambling writes, but our enlightened era is set to re-embrace pork fat. Not only is it healthier, but it jibes with current trends. “Your great-grandmother surely cooked with it, so you should, too.” So it’s good, trendy, healthy, and it doesn’t “taste anything like pig,” Schrambling writes. “It’s stealth fat.” (More lard stories.)