Fat chance
We need to have a truthful conversation about fat and recognise that it should be a vital part of our diet
Fat. It’s a tricky subject. Last month we held the first of our three Slow Food Big Table suppers with Slow Food Edinburgh at Contini George Street and this was our topic.
The problem for me is not how we use fats but how they are categorised.
Unsaturated fats can either be mono or polyunsaturated. Until recently anything in the saturated family was deemed bad for us. With most fats we use them as a catalyst for cooking, so heat is needed. This is where the chemical nature of the unheated state changes the health benefits for some fats.
Due to the carbon bonds that make up the fat’s structure, saturates aren’t altered when you heat them.
Polyunsaturated fats, such as sunflower oil, change their chemical composition when heated.
Olive oil, a monounsaturated fat, needs to reach almost 200C to be damaged, so it is one of the best oils for eating raw and frying.
Margarines, and some vegetable oils (trans fats) have been extensively treated. For years they were labelled as the healthy fats, helping to lower cholesterol, but they aren’t natural, and many have been proven to be damaging for our health, especially when reheated.
It took a generation for the trans fat culture to penetrate our food system and it’s been a hard medicine to swallow. The rise in the use of these ultra-processed fats has altered our cooking habits and changed our shape and our health. We need to go back to what nature gave us.
We still have some spaces available for our Slow Food Big Table fat suppers at Cannonball Restaurant on Castlehill (24 March) and The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant (21 April), so please join us and let’s give good fats a new name – a cuddle for our inside. ■
Vegetable soup with lardo sbattuto
When you cream the lardo, this is what it’s called. The flavour is incredible and can transform any pot of soup.
Serves four
6 thin slices of lardo
1 clove of garlic, peeled
500g dried cannellini, soaked overnight with a teaspoon of baking soda and some cold water
2 large onions, peeled and chopped 1 large fennel bulb, cleaned and chopped
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped 500g rainbow chard
1 litre hot water seasoning
1 Rinse the beans and return to the pot with plenty of cold water. Bring the beans to the boil, drain and rinse under the tap.
2 In a large soup pot melt two slices of lardo and fry the onion and fennel.
3 Add the parsnips, stock and beans, water and bring to a simmer. Check seasoning. Simmer for a further 40 minutes to 1 hour until soft.
4 Roughly chop the chard leaves and finely chop the tender stalks. Add these to the soup and simmer for about 5 minutes until they have wilted. Check seasoning.
5 Using a pestle and mortar cream the remaining four slices of lardo with the garlic. Add to the soup, allow it to melt and serve.
Hollandaise sauce
If ever a recipe needed fat, this is the one. We use this for our eggs Benedict served on a buttery at The Scottish Cafe and Contini George Street.
Serves two
200g unsalted butter
3 large organic egg yolks
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp salt
250g sprouting broccoli or new season asparagus if you can get some, washed and steamed a handful of parsley
1
Melt the butter and remove any of the white foam that separates.
2 Choose a glass bowl that can sit on top of a saucepan half filled with water. You don’t want the bowl to touch the water.
3 Add the egg yolks, lemon and salt and using a metal whisk beat until thickened. It should change colour slightly. This will take 2 or 3 minutes.
4 Gently add the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat until all the butter has been added and the sauce has thickened to the texture of a sour cream.
5 Serve generously spooned on top of the steamed greens. Add a sprinkling of parsley.
Panna cotta
A recipe that will give you a cuddle.
Serves five 5 x 150ml ramekins 750ml single cream 100g caster sugar
2 sheets of gold leaf gelatine seeds of one 1 vanilla pod
1 Heat the cream, vanilla seeds and sugar in the pan.
2 In a spare bowl place the gelatine and cover with cold water. Allow it to soften.
3 Before the cream starts to steam, remove from the heat and add the gelatine. Sieve into the ramekins and allow to cool and set. Decant into bowls.