Praise the lard

16 April 2015 - 02:36 By Andrea Burgener

I promise this is the last time (for a while) that I will rant about the cholesterol scam. Or about the ridiculous maligning of saturated fats that is a cornerstone of this false theory, or about how plain criminally wrong most dieticians still are on the subject of fats.I have a strong feeling that in 10 years' time we will look back with disbelief (and fury at helpings of gorgonzola denied) on these cholesterol and fat fearing years.Sadly, the horribly bad initial research, taken up and kept alive by those with enormous amounts of potential moolah to be made, just keep the ridiculous lies bobbing along.Newspaper pullouts from supermarket ''in-house" dieticians are still urging us to eat low-fat, plain yoghurt with a drizzle of honey, and use vegetable stock instead of oil in stir-fries. What?Fat will keep you full for longer. And news flash: honey has as bad an effect on your insulin as white sugar. Plus, how can you stir-fry with stock? Huh? Stir-boil, I think you mean. Once again, why no oil?At least differentiate between trans-fat (bad) and organic coconut oil (good). Fat is not the enemy.Follow the trail of breadcrumbs - I highly recommend The Great Cholesterol Con by genius Scottish doctor Malcolm Kendrick for starters - then you, too, will know that eating cholesterol makes no difference to your cholesterol levels, because your body just compensates by making more or less, and you will know that you don't want to lower your levels: your body needs cholesterol in every cell, especially in your brain.The older you get, the worse your prospects are if you have low cholesterol. And the link between saturated fat and cholesterol is laughably, fantastically wrong. Cholesterol is not even a fat.So, in the spirit of three cheers for cholesterol, yeah for butter and a Victoria Cross for the fat on lamb chops, here is the easiest, best recipe for Hollandaise sauce.It's slightly adapted with a little extra liquid, which frees you from the painstakingly slow double-boiler nonsense. Eat over eggs, mushrooms, spinach or ham.For two: four free-range yolks / three tbs fresh orange juice / 130g best cold butter / lemon juice, possibly / salt to taste. Beat yolks and orange juice together in a thick-bottomed pot - the thick bottom is non-negotiable - and heat on medium flame. Add cold butter in small blobs, whisking all the time (and I do mean all the time).Keep going until the sauce is custard thick. If it threatens to split, speedily whisk in ¼ cup of cold cream (keep on standby).Add lemon if want more sharpness, and salt to taste. Serve with haste...

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