The healthy fats this entire time were everything they told us to avoid. Ribeyes. Eggs. Bone Marrow. Duck Fat. It’s amazing how the reputation of animal fats have been desecrated this badly.
They’re definitely an integral part of a holistic diet. Yet at the same time, we shouldn’t ignore plant fats. Avocados are brilliant. Good quality dark chocolate is elite. And we all know how beneficial coconut oil is.
Today we’re going to discuss some common cooking fats used and what’s ACTUALLY heart healthy.
Why does it matter anyway?
What you use to cook with is an added ingredient in every meal you’re consuming. What’s the point of going through all the effort to get the quality produce only to smear it with canola oil?
This is one reason why you can sometimes order something at a restaurant that looks incredibly clean on the menu - a tenderloin strip with a baked potato - yet leave feeling bloated.
It’s not you, it’s the oils that they’re slathering on top of your food. Seed oil laden sauces and oils leave such a bad taste in your mouth.
We’re all about being anti-fragile but at the same time, life-long health is built on a foundation of whole foods and you don’t want to be smearing your produce in fats that don’t nourish you.
Animal fats are amazing for searing and they impart your food with incredible flavor. In my eyes, animal fats are some of the best fats in the world. They have stood the test of time and they taste incredible while imparting beautiful flavor.
It’s a shame how they’ve been demonized. Saturated fat and dietary cholesterol do not directly cause heart attacks. Yet so many people still believe this.
In fact, animal fats are one of the healthiest things you can eat. They're loaded with necessary fat soluble vitamins and other cofactors. However, prioritize consuming grass fed fat from healthy and happy animals. Toxins are stored in fat, so you don't want fat from sick animals to cook with.
While animal fat is incredibly healthy, you need to take note of the palette profile that you’re constructing. Fats like tallow and suet work well with meat-based dishes, or you could strategically use something like duck fat to fry your fries with to impart a slightly different flavor profile.
Dairy fats such as butter and ghee are absolute staples. Every self respecting kitchen needs a beautiful butter dish and great grass fed ghee. I recommend ghee made from cow's milk unless you really enjoy that lamb aftertaste.
Butter was made to be cooked with eggs and to baste beautiful steaks. They're also amazing as a vehicle to impart flavors on a whim to just about any dish, by creating unique compound butters. Life hack. Note: You never want butter to burn. It becomes very bitter and isn't nice to taste. Just use ghee instead when you want to cook at a higher temperature or want to get a great sear.
Coconut oil is incredible. Eastern nations have been using coconut oil for thousands of years. Yes animal fats are good, but there are several plant-based fats that are healthy as well. Coconut oil is saturated, so it doesn't burn under high heat and is a good option for deep frying and high heat searing. It's also got some incredible health properties. To be honest, if I had to choose ONE oil to get a seed oil addict to replace canola oil with? It would be coconut oil - it's by far the easiest transition.
Olive oil is a Mediterranean staple for good reason. Good quality extra virgin olive oil is worth its weight in gold. It's full of polyphenols and antioxidants that's responsible for the vitality across the Med. It's amazing to use for all-purpose cooking and searing (just don't smoke the oil or it'll burn).
The antioxidant properties in olive oil keep it from producing free radicals like a seed oil would. Olive oil is perfectly healthy to consume. It's more of a fruit oil than a seed oil (just like avocado oil). Don’t listen to the haters saying that you cannot cook with olive oil. If that was true the entire Mediterranean would cease to exist. Alexander the Great conquered the entire world running on the purest extra virgin olive oil known to mankind.
Note: Olive oil fraud is a common phenomenon. Always look at the ingredients list, no matter what's printed on the label itself. It should only say extra virgin olive oil. Anything that includes other oils (pomace oil, canola oil, etc) should not be bought. Giving them your money would have been cause for exile in the Roman empire.
Seed oils were once used to make soap. They’re toxic sludge that’s been repurposed as cheap cooking oil. Most chefs use seed oils because they argue that the neutral flavor + high smoke point make them an ideal all purpose oil for anything in the kitchen.
However, what they fail to account for is how bad they are for us. The way seed oils are made means that they’re often found oxidized in the bottle itself. Consuming them increases oxidative stress in the body and this is strongly linked with arterial plaque build up. This is why you see people who’ve never really eaten meat in their lives get heart attacks (doctors will claim that it’s genetic). Use avocado oil if you need something with a neutral flavor. Use fats like coconut oil, tallow, duck fat for deep frying.
Never buy zero calorie sprays. They’re a THOUSAND calories a can - not zero. It’s actually insane how this is even legal. These sprays also include propellant, flavorings, emulsifiers and anti-foaming agents. While the amount of propellant is technically not toxic at the amounts used (<0.1mg per kg), it's still flammable. Even if the odds of an explosion are low, why would you risk it by having an aerosol can in the kitchen at all? The flavorings used aren’t safe at all. Diacetyl is a common chemical that’s added to mimic the butter taste and it’s been linked with lung disease.
There are exceptions to the seed oil rule. Some “seed oils” like black seed oil are 100% cold pressed and have been used for medicinal purposes for millennia.
We want to stay away from the refined modern sludge, but there’s absolutely no need to be afraid of using cold pressed seed oils for topical / oral applications.
I’d still never use any of them to cook, for they will get oxidized and wreak havoc in your body.
Read more here to learn about black seed oil:
Note on palm oil: Organic unrefined palm oil (including extra virgin red palm oil) is amazing. Incredibly rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin E. You just want to stay away from the refined stuff.
Using healthy cooking fat is one of the biggest levers you can pull in terms of eating healthier. You'll immediately feel the effects in terms of how you feel on a day to day basis.
A little nibble of cheese
There's a reason why Brie is a girl's name (lesson in there)
Summer is eternal
Summer ends when you decide it does
You need to be juicing
Once you try freshly pressed juice you’ll never buy pasteurized store bought garbage again
❋ HONEY ICE CREAM WITH PISTACHIO BRITTLE
Honey ice cream is the perfect blend of pure honey and vanilla; a smooth, creamy treat that’s both sweet and delicate. The pistachio honey brittle topping adds a crisp texture that perfectly complements the rich and silky ice cream.
❋ CARROT CAKE IN LONDON: 9 BEST CAFES AND BAKERIES TO EAT AT
A local’s guide to the best carrot cake in London, with 9 bakeries and cafes to visit during autumn and winter from American Hummingbird Bakery to vegan Ruby’s!
Carrot cake is one of those classic baked goods I try to treat myself to as often as I can when I live in London.
Whether you’re indulging in the creamy cake with a nice cup of specialty coffee or celebrating a special occasion, carrot cake is the goat: it’s one of my favorite desserts in London.
Don’t get me wrong: I love classic British desserts like banoffee pie or trifle, and I love French pastries like Paris-Brest and macarons.
But when it comes to American-like pastries, like carrot cake, cheesecake or my beloved Red Velvet cake, I’ll try them all any chance I’m given.
Travel and childhood help to determine the different recipes we create, and this week’s recipe is no different. When we visited New York City last March, we came across this delicious bakery that sold the most delicious orange pistachio muffin. It was so delicious, and we’ve been dreaming about it ever since.
We wanted to take those delicious flavors and add our own spin to it. We may have been a bit ambitious on this one, but we don’t regret it. This is going down as one of our top three favorite recipes we’ve ever created!
These Orange Pistachio Rolls are the perfect treat for a cozy, fall morning inside or as a delicious, sweet dessert at night. Curl up on the sofa with a blanket, a cup of coffee and a cruffin as you watch Harry Potter or your favorite rom-com. Once you have one, you’ll definitely want another!
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I love how versatile coconut oil is