By Vladimir Brezina
Looking around the kitchen and in the refrigerator and freezer, our collection of fats, many of them the residues of repasts past, seems to be remarkably varied just now…
From left to right—
Front row: lard (pig), bacon fat (pig), butter (cow)
Middle row: olive oil, beef marrow fat (cow), coconut oil, goose fat
Back: duck fat (and stock)
Each of them will be used, one day, in its own best way… Julia Child would approve!
... kayaked the waters around New York for more than 15 years in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He was originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He was a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He died in 2016.
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.
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Wind Against Current 
Marrow AND goose fat ? Impressive to say the very least. I was just reading about colored salts from across the world. I might have to blog it IF I can find some imported black and reds.
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Goose fat is ideal for braised red cabbage, we find… It goes fast! :-)
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YUMMMMYY !!!!!
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I just bought some Himalayan pink salt – and so Katheryn, if you post some red and black salts I will be very curious to see it! ;)
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I am going to try and find them . The article I read was in PLATE magazine and written by Amber Gibson. Maybe it’s online to. It was so interesting !
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Thanks! Goose fat is from the goose we roast for Christmas. Marrow was an experiment… despite reports to the contrary, we found roasted marrow was basically inedible by itself, even as a spread, because of its greasiness. However, it imparts a delightfully nutty essence to pan-fried steak…
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Marrow is the start of the best demi glace in the world! YUMMY !! Now I am craving a great meal !
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There’s an idea! Johna, are you listening? :-)
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I have been thinking about a great meal since I read your post…it’s so cold though!
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Reading the comments, I am getting kind of hungry myself…
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Rare 8 oz Filet swimming in demi and mushroom with a nice blue cheese potato gratin………oh boy!
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On long paddles, we have food fantasies like that too :-)
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Then you can paddle up and eat!
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Haha, a bit of a different post to the other ones!
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A new direction to branch out in? ;-)
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Wow, you two are quite the gourmands! I do believe Julia would be grinning with delight!
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:-) She is our guiding angel, that’s for sure!
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Vladimir- this was such a fun post! I noticed the coconut oil in there and recently (last summer) there was a bunch of talk about how coconut oil helps patients with alzheimer’s disease – and then one lady was suggesting folks drink so much “melted coconut” oil per day – but I think that was a bit much for the norm – however, cooking with it is another story –
and well, your little oil collection in this post would not only make Julia proud, but my grandmother would give you a thumb up too. :)
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There is a huge movement towards coconut oil in the Paleo eating community. I’ve found coconut oil is not only good for cooking, but also a nice emollient for skin and hair–and also imparts a lovely sheen to clean metalware (while protecting it from rust)…Truly an all-around great oil!
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Per my culinary instructors, “fat carries the flavor.”
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Wise instructors! :-)
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Bon appetit…braised red cabbage in goose fat sounds delicious :)
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It is! I am ALWAYS begging Vlad to make some… then pouting when it’s gone…
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Yes, I’m impressed :)
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Thanks! I keep waiting for someone to comment on the lard–rendering THAT was an all-day affair (I was heads-down on a work project, so that went well). Now we just have to figure out what to do with it… I’m thinking of frying up some sweet-potato fries….
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Why not try Yorkshire Pudding, Johna? Of course, they should be cooked in fat from roast beef but hey! pork is good too.
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I have fond memories of Yorkshire Pudding… :-)
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Great selection, Vlad! I remember as a child, my sister and I had to take it in turns to eat the beef marrow fat. It’s delicious on toast. :)
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We thought it would be, but it was just too oily, even for us. Maybe we didn’t do something quite right…
But I can tell you from personal experience that goose fat on a slice of rye bread (the Central European kind) is certainly delicious :-)
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Huzzah! Our fat collection is similar in size and scope. I just rendered beef tallow last week (and blogged about it) and had enough to make soap, candles, and have plenty left over for cooking!
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Thanks, Gwen!! We’ll have to try your crockpot method. Although, in a NYC apartment, our capacity is quite a bit lower than yours—I don’t think our freezer could handle 20 lbs of beef, never mind 125 lbs… :-)
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