Lard of course has a terrible reputation nowadays -- "ewww, fat!!"

But there are two kinds of lard. The type you find unrefrigerated in boxes on store shelves is indeed nasty stuff -- hydrogenated fat, tastes terrible and is worse for you.

But "real" lard -- rendered fresh pork fat -- is virtually a different substance with the same name. It can sometimes be found at good butcher shops. It needs to be refrigerated. Or you can make it at home. Some cookery books will give recipes, but it basically involves cutting up pork fat and cooking it covered with water until the water evaporates. Julia Child claims in one of her books that this "real" lard actually has nutritional properties similar to olive oil. I've never verified that, but having had it, I can testify that it is from a culinary viewpoint simply a different substance than hydrogenated lard.

A teaspoon of (real) lard added to cooked dishes along with the butter or oil used for their preliminary cooking will add a lot of the lard flavor without so much of the richness or calories.

Jon Corelis
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