Fat (cookbook)

Last updated
Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes
Fat, An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes cover.jpg
Book cover
Author Jennifer McLagan
Genre cookbook

Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes is a cookbook written by Canadian author Jennifer McLagan. In Fat, McLagan discusses the history of the shift from diets that were high in animal fat to low-fat foods, which has not resulted in an appreciable increase in overall health. The trend to lower fat foods is a result of studies conducted in the 1940s, which McLagan disputes. Included in Fat are instructions for fat rendering, recipes for its use, and a description of the health benefits of eating animal fat.

Contents

In 2009 the book received the James Beard Foundation Award and the IACP Cookbook Award. [1]

History

McLagen was raised in Australia in the 1960s, prior to the North American and United Kingdom diets moving towards low fat. In the 1970s, she moved to Europe, where fat was not being removed as a common part of the diet. [2] The 1970s saw American diets adopting lower amounts of animal fat (though without an improvement in overall health), resulting in an increased intake of overall fat, with vegetable fats substituted for animal fats, leading to higher polyunsaturated fat levels in the diet. [3] McLagan's explanation for the belief that fat is unhealthy comes from Ancel Keys's studies in the 1940s, which linked animal fat to heart disease—studies which have since been challenged by other studies which do not link the two. McLangan states the studies were faulty, citing the "French paradox," according to which cultures with a high-fat diet have low rates of heart disease. [4]

Content

McLagen discusses the misconception that people have about fat as a "greasy killer" and describes the shift to a low-fat diet, citing two studies that show that obesity may not be connected to heart attacks, and pointing to the Atkins diet. There are sections dedicated to butter and to types of fat from different animals, with instructions on how to render it, store it and cook with it. Recipes for dishes with animal fat as an ingredient are included as well. [3] McLagen's book also covers the health benefits of animal fat, such as its energy content, helping the immune system, reducing LDL cholesterol, and aiding in digestion of protein and fat-soluble vitamins. [2] [3] McLagen contends that animal fat is not unhealthy and tastes good, but that it has gotten a bad reputation and thus consumers have become afraid of eating it—if they stopped being afraid, they would enjoy it. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soul food</span> American style of cooking

Soul food is the ethnic cuisine of African Americans. It originated in the American South from the cuisines of enslaved Africans trafficked to the North American colonies through the Atlantic slave trade during the Antebellum period and is closely associated with the cuisine of the American South. The expression "soul food" originated in the mid-1960s, when "soul" was a common word used to describe African-American culture. Soul food uses cooking techniques and ingredients from West African, Central African, Western European, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas. Soul food came from the blending of what African Americans ate in their native countries in Africa and what was available to them as slaves. The cuisine had its share of negativity initially. Soul food was initially seen as low class food, and Northern African Americans looked down on their Black Southern counterparts who preferred soul food. The term evolved from being the diet of a slave in the South to being a primary pride in the African-American community in the North such as New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drawn butter</span> Melted butter as a sauce

Drawn butter is melted butter, often served as a sauce for steamed seafood. Some cooks restrict the term to clarified butter, while others insist that it should not be clarified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junk food</span> Unhealthy food high in sugar or fat

"Junk food" is a term used to describe food that is high in calories from macronutrients such as sugar and/or fat, and possibly sodium, making it hyperpalatable, but with insufficient dietary fiber, protein, or micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. It is also known as HFSS food. The term junk food is a pejorative dating back to the 1950s. Many variations of junk food can be easily found in most supermarkets and fast food restaurants. Due to easy accessibility, commercially-oriented packaging, and often-low prices, people are most likely to consume it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atkins diet</span> Low-carbohydrate fad diet devised by Robert Atkins

The Atkins diet is a low-carbohydrate fad diet devised by Robert Atkins in the 1970s, marketed with claims that carbohydrate restriction is crucial to weight loss and that the diet offered "a high calorie way to stay thin forever".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pemmican</span> Food mix with long shelf life, sometimes used as survival food

Pemmican is a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and sometimes dried berries. A calorie-rich food, it can be used as a key component in prepared meals or eaten raw. Historically, it was an important part of indigenous cuisine in certain parts of North America and it is still prepared today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Fuhrman</span> American celebrity doctor (born 1953)

Joel Fuhrman is an American celebrity doctor who advocates a plant-based diet termed the "nutritarian" diet which emphasizes nutrient-dense foods. His practice is based on his nutrition-based approach to obesity and chronic disease, as well as promoting his products and books. He has written books promoting his dietary approaches including the bestsellers Eat to Live, Super Immunity, The Eat to Live Cookbook, The End of Dieting (2016) and The End of Heart Disease (2016). He sells a related line of nutrition-related products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convenience food</span> Processed food designed for ease of preparation and consumption

Convenience food is food that is commercially prepared for ease of consumption, and is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily portable, have a long shelf life, or offer a combination of such convenient traits. Convenience foods include ready-to-eat dry products, frozen food such as TV dinners, shelf-stable food, prepared mixes such as cake mix, and snack food. Food scientists now consider most of these products to be ultra-processed foods and link them to poor health outcomes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthy diet</span> Type of diet

A healthy diet is a diet that maintains or improves overall health. A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fibre and food energy.

<i>The China Study</i> 2005 book by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II

The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health is a book by T. Colin Campbell and his son, Thomas M. Campbell II. The book argues for health benefits of a whole food plant-based diet. It was first published in the United States in January 2005 and had sold over one million copies as of October 2013, making it one of America's best-selling books about nutrition.

A fat tax is a tax or surcharge that is placed upon fattening food, beverages or on overweight individuals. It is considered an example of Pigovian taxation. A fat tax aims to discourage unhealthy diets and offset the economic costs of obesity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary G. Enig</span> American nutritionist (1931–2014)

Mary Gertrude Enig was a nutritionist and researcher known for her unconventional positions on the role saturated fats play in diet and health. She disputed the medical consensus that diets high in saturated fats contribute to development of heart disease, while she advocated for a low-carbohydrate high-fat diet, rich in animal fats and coconut oil.

John A. McDougall is an American physician and author. He has written a number of diet books advocating the consumption of a low-fat vegan diet based on starchy foods and vegetables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of fast food</span> Overview about the criticism of fast food

Criticism of fast food includes claims of negative health effects, animal cruelty, cases of worker exploitation, children-targeted marketing and claims of cultural degradation via shifts in people's eating patterns away from traditional foods. Fast food chains have come under fire from consumer groups, such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a longtime fast food critic over issues such as caloric content, trans fats and portion sizes. Social scientists have highlighted how the prominence of fast food narratives in popular urban legends suggests that modern consumers have an ambivalent relationship with fast food, particularly in relation to children.

Jennifer McLagan is an Australian/Canadian chef and author based in Toronto. She has become famous for writing books on food and is the author of the book Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes.

William R. Davis is a Milwaukee-based American cardiologist, low-carbohydrate diet advocate and author of health books known for his stance against "modern wheat", which he labels a "perfect, chronic poison."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Hyman (doctor)</span> American physician and author (born 1959)

Mark Adam Hyman is an American physician and author. He is the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center and was a columnist for The Huffington Post. Hyman was a regular contributor to the Katie Couric Show until the show's cancellation in 2013. He writes a blog called The Doctor’s Farmacy, which examines many topics related to human health and welfare, and also offers a podcast by the same name that's available across all popular podcast platforms. He is the author of several books on nutrition and longevity, including Food Fix, Eat Fat, Get Thin, and Young Forever.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vegetarian and vegan dog diet</span> Adequate meat-free or animal-free nutrition

As in the human practice of veganism, vegan dog foods are those formulated with the exclusion of ingredients that contain or were processed with any part of an animal, or any animal byproduct. Vegan dog food may incorporate the use of fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes including soya, nuts, vegetable oils, as well as any other non-animal based foods.

<i>The Sioux Chefs Indigenous Kitchen</i> 2017 recipe book

The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen is a recipe book written by Sean Sherman with Beth Dooley, published by the University of Minnesota Press in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sean Sherman is an Oglala Lakota chef who was born in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and is currently based in South Minneapolis. Sherman opened an Indigenous cuisine restaurant within the Water Works park development project overlooking Saint Anthony Falls and the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soul food health trends</span>

Soul food is a kind of African American cuisine that encompasses a variety of fried, roasted, and boiled food dishes consisting of chicken and pork meats, sweet potatoes, corn, leafy greens and other vegetables. Soul food has long been embedded in African American culture, but pushes towards healthy eating habits, for both physical and mental health, have adapted soul food cuisine to fit within health trends. This article will describe modifications of traditional soul food within health trends, including soul food with low carb, soul food with low sugar, soul food with low fat, soul food for vegan and soul food in gluten-free.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Gillespie (author)</span> Australian author

David Gillespie is an Australian lawyer, anti-sugar activist and low-carbohydrate diet author who has written several books about health and nutrition. Gillespie admits to no qualifications in nutrition or medicine. Gillespie's advocacy for a diet high in saturated fat and his erroneous claim that polyunsaturated fat from vegetable oil is toxic have been criticized by medical experts as dangerous, misleading and wrong.

References

  1. "FAT: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes". Jennifermclagan.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  2. 1 2 Morris, Sophie (12 March 2009). "Fat is back: Rediscover the delights of lard, dripping and suet". The Independent. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Bhide, Monica (25 September 2008). "Why you should eat fat". Salon. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  4. 1 2 Smith, Shaun (15 September 2008). "Jenifer McLagan on her controversial book, Fat". CBC. Retrieved 12 March 2012.