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DEL.ICIO.USPraise the lard!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I honestly can’t remember the last time I bought lard, but last night was a special occasion. The friends I regularly get together with for Sunday dinner were coming over to celebrate the life of our Southern culinary hero Edna Lewis, who died last week.
Our menu consisted of some of her greatest hits: wilted salad, catfish stew, corn pone, biscuits and blackberry cobbler with brandy sauce (most of those recipes can be found in “The Gift of Southern Food,” which she co-wrote with her best friend, chef Scott Peacock of Watershed in Decatur.)
Aside from the light, herb-redolent catfish stew, it’s doubtful anything else on the menu would escape the nutrition police.
The salad not only contained bacon but its rendered fat, which was mixed with cider vinegar and sugar for the dressing. The corn pones were deep-fried.
And the biscuits and pastry for the cobbler achieved their melt-in-your mouth flakiness to pork fat in the form of lard — which has fallen so far out of favor these days it took a major scavenger hunt to find a tub of it.
But I have to tell you, honestly: we all unanimously agreed that they were the best biscuits and cobbler we had ever tasted. We also unanimously agreed that we felt no guilt for enjoying them.
Especially in light of recent reports that trans fats — found in common lard substitutes like shortening and stick margarine — are probably even more likely to clog your arteries than saturated animal fat. Since homemade biscuits and cobbler are rare treats for me, when I have them I don’t want to compromise. I’d rather cut the biscuits a smaller, and eat a half-portion of the cobbler.
That was yet one more lesson I learned from Edna Lewis, who I had the pleasure of dining with on several occasions. She ate whatever she wanted, but knew when to stop. And she lived most of her 89 years in excellent health.
So I ask you — is lard deserving of its bad reputation?
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: Southern Food
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By pcw
February 20, 2006 10:18 AM | Link to this
You can’t make good Southern biscuits without lard. My grandmother and mother both used it. They said Crisco just wouldn’t work and it doesn’t. So, when I need it, I look in the Mexican aisle. I can ususally find it there.
By dee
February 20, 2006 10:51 AM | Link to this
Add buttermilk from a churn and you would have the best biscuits you have ever tased. Oh yes, and if you have a wood cookstove, they come out even better.
By Mark
February 21, 2006 09:17 AM | Link to this
As someone still new to cooking (not counting the numerous frozen pizzas and Eggo waffles I’ve “made”) I didn’t realize what a challenge I was taking on making biscuits from Ms. Edna’s recipie. Thankfully, with the help of an excellent teacher, they came out really good and I was told some people go their whole lives without making a flaky biscuit. Apparently I have the touch! How rewarding to have your efforts turn into something people really enjoy. And yes… we used lard and buttermilk. Not something I would do every day but well worth it once in a while! I may have to go buy “The Gift of Southern Food” and see what else I can turn out to delight and amaze my friends. Thanks Ms. Edna!
By charlotte
February 21, 2006 09:49 AM | Link to this
as long as you eat it standing up, calories don’t count. they never count on a bad day either.
By Sarah
February 22, 2006 04:34 PM | Link to this
This comment doesn’t have to do with the question of the day, but with one from several days ago. (I just found this blog, so forgive me). Someone was asking about the best way to fry chicken. In reading the comments that were posted, I realized that the first and most important issue was never even mentioned - skin! So what do y’all think? Do you skin it first or not? My mother made the best fried chicken in the world; mine now comes a close second after many long years of practice. The secret is indeed in preparation, and a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet, but skinning the chicken first is a must at my house!
By monica giles
February 23, 2006 03:38 PM | Link to this
Re Food & Drink section 2/23/06, & Edna Lewis’s Crispy Corn Sticks:
What is the reason to use single acting vs. double acting baking powder in baked goods?
By peanutlady
February 24, 2006 10:24 AM | Link to this
My grandmother was a wonderful, old-fashioned southern cook and she swore by plain old fashioned “hog lard” for her perfect biscuits and corn-bread. She and my grandfather ate bacon, fried eggs and lard biscuits every day for breakfast and both lived to be 84 without ever having heart disease and never hearing about the dangers of cholesterol. (In fact, I’m sure they never had theirs checked.) In the words of Emeril “pork fat rules.”