 Josh Ozersky has written on his carnivorous exploits for Time, Esquire and now Food & Wine; he has authored several books, including The Hamburger: A History; and he is the founder of the Meatopia food festival. Follow him on Twitter @OzerskyTV. Fat is what matters in your food. That’s the key thing to remember about fat. The lean mean tastes like whatever; you couldn’t tell a thin slice of chicken breast from a carpaccio if your life depended on it. No, “The fat is the meat, and the meat is the vegetable,” as the saying goes, and this is especially true of real fat, the kind that comes from animals. I should clarify here - so to speak - that I am not talking about the revolting white fat that sits congealing on the plate when they slice open the prime rib. No, I mean hot fat, crispy fat and most of all liquid fat, the kind you can roast or sauté things in. Most herbs and spices, as volatile organic compounds, are fat-soluble, so it’s not hard to give the fat you use deep flavor - deeper than you ever get by just seasoning the food. I use Aleppo pepper, rosemary, chiles, sage and whatever else I can think of to put into it. But are all fats created equal? I don’t think they are. I think there is a eternal hierarchy of Seven Great Greases, as I have come to think of them. They are as follows. 2. Olive Oil That aside, the stuff has an astonishing range of flavor: from the hot, grassy finish of late-harvest Tuscan, to the buttery nuttiness of Umbrian oil, to the punchiness of the really fruity stuff, like Portuguese Cabeço das Nogueiras. These two fats are so necessary and so universal that they are in a class by themselves. I apologize to all of the animal fats below, starting with lard. 3. Lard I won’t even get into bacon fat, ham fat, fatback and the rest; a pure, clean lard, skillfully applied, can cover a multitude of sins. This doesn’t even touch on lard’s irreplaceable use as the basis for pies and pastries and piadinas and meat patties, all confections that would be unthinkable without melted-down pigs. 4. Schmaltz There can be no chicken soup without the “gold coins” that float on top; no chopped liver, no true potato latkes or kugels - essentially the whole of Jewish food. And, lest it seem that you can file it away under Judaica, consider this: There can be no chicken gravy, no chicken dumplings, no fried chicken without a goodly amount of the stuff dissolved into it. 5. Rendered Beef Kidney Suet Truly well-marbled meat is rarely easy to find, and always expensive. A little of this stuff supplies nature’s defect, and provides the most unskilled chef with a shortcut to greatness. 6. Lamb Fat Lamb fat is one of the only reasons we can enjoy lean meats that have been frozen solid and flown halfway around the world; it’s one of the only reasons we can enjoy lamb shanks, a cut which is—in every other animal—so bad that we don’t even let it into soup. Lamb fat is everything. (For me; otherwise it would be higher on the list.) 7. Duck Fat I realize these rankings are slightly subjective, but they are to make a point, that being that not all fats are created equal, but that all of them are better than vegetable oil. If a single reader raises his or her cholesterol from this list— - and with it, their happiness - I will have done my duty. More from Food & Wine: Previously: © 2011 American Express Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved. 
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Really enjoyed this blog.Really looking forward to read more. Will read on… ozza
It can be hard to find some of them here in Australia unfortunately, especially suet, real lard and schmaltz. Duck fat is becoming more available, though not cheap.
Can't believe Kat let this remain.
Ghee is the best fat for almost everything
Coconut oil and avocado oil. They both have a high smoke point, and are healthy.
Taco from The League also knows much about smoking points.
"It’s like the butter of animal fats" How can you not know that butter is an animal fat?
Read this as farts and clicked the article. The list looked even more disgusting than farts.
I've always liked olive oil over butter. Except on popcorn...gotta have butter on popcorn.
Read this as "7 greatest farts" and was disappointed after clicking
Me too. I wanted to submit the one I did about six years ago where I walked down a 200ft hallway and farted with every step, cropdusting the entire office. It was a fart that legends are made of.
Leaf Lard–clarified Lard is the Best to use for baking or frying anything. Just ask Grandma.
I bought some lard to see what the hype was about and thought it had a rank putrid smell, I cant believe people used that stuff. Luckily it didnt taste like it smelled after frying but that smell from cooking is gag inducing.
While butter and olive oil are correctly #s 1 and 2, coconut oil is the true #3, and the rest are pretenders.
recently discovered schmaltz, and fell in love with it and its end product, the gribenes. but yes, the versatility of simple butter is unmatched.
Reblogged this on Mr. Feliz's Blog (Teacher Arturo) and commented:
Go figure!
Hulloh! Peanut oil? Oh so sweet and addictive.
What kind of oil? Peni ..... !!! ~_~
Oh. Never mind.
peanut oil sweet and addictive? what? Its a flavorless frying oil like canola/vegetable.
BACON GREASE, NOM NOM
Butter
Ghee
Olive oil (especially extra virgin, the real stuff)
Coconut oil
Avocado oil (but a way bit too pricy)
Duck fat
Sesame oil
Oh, and sesame oil, for my Asian endeavors.
Isn't Ghee just clarified butter?
Yes. Ghee is clarified butter.
Then what's "haw?"
@little timmy: I do believe that version of gee and haw refer to right and left turn commands when driving cattle. ;-)
Actually there is a subtle difference between ghee and clarified butter.
clarified butter, the water is cooked out and the solids are removed
ghee water is cooked out and the solids are allowed to brown to a golden brown before removing the solids.. a nutty kind of taste is imparted...
I don't know why fat has had such a bad rap. Your body needs fat to operate. If you are over weight it is probably because of Carbs not fat.
1. Orson Wells
2. James Earl Jones
3. NJ Governor Chris Christie
4. John Goodman
5. Alfred Hitchc0ck
6. Roseanna Barr
7. Boris Yeltsin
My thought this before I clicked, I am disappointed.
Fats Domino?!? Come on, man! ;)
Minnesota Fats,
Fatty Arbuckle,
Chubby Checker,
Fats Waller
W T H ?
JFGI
Antithesis (which cancels all your examples): Michael Moore
Lol!
Did you mean "rendered?"
Reblogged this on meandmyfoolishheart.
No one cares.