As weird as it sounds, I find it highly relaxing to meander down the aisles of a grocery store, looking at all the different products, putting together recipes in my head, and considering all the foods I'd try if I had enough time and money. Because of this, everybody hates to go grocery shopping with me.
During my grocery adventures the other day, I came across an item I didn't even think existed anymore—lard.
During my grocery adventures the other day, I came across an item I didn't even think existed anymore—lard.
Image Courtesy of Amazon.com Having grown up during the great "fat panic" that connected the 20th and 21st century, the only time I ever saw lard was in old TV shows and church cookbooks. I was taught that fat was evil, and animal fat, eviler. As a child, all my toast, pancakes, and waffles were adorned with a liberal coating of margarine, because that was the least evil of fats. Butter was something you kept in the freezer for use only in special occasions, like to impress good company or make Christmas cookies.
Undoubtedly, my family was one of millions that traded animal and dairy fat for hydrogenated vegetable oil, only to be distraught in the mid-2000s when science revealed that Crisco and Country Crock contained trans-fats, which actually made them unhealthier than what we traded them for.
While we returned to eating butter with slight trepidation (often differing to Smart Balance), our family never did get into lard. I assumed that lard was simply something nobody bought anymore, which is why I was surprised to come across it on my grocery excursion. I figured you had to special order it.
If you ask someone over 50 who is a serious home cook, they will tell you that lard works magic for foods like biscuits, fried chicken, pie crusts, and even scrambled eggs. While the average family may not need it, there are enough dedicated people out there to keep lard on store shelves.
Lard enjoys an interesting niche. Because the world was in such a hurry to run off and replace it, there are still many left behind who demand it. Thus, companies can continue selling lard without investing a great deal in marketing or advertising, because they know there will always be a finite but dedicated base of customers.
It seems Ford stumbled across a similar lesson in the world of automobiles. By not chasing after the latest trends in luxury cars, Ford cemented the Lincoln Town Car as the only luxury vehicle that stayed true to old values. So while the rest of the world rushed off to buy margarine and Mercedes Benzes, Ford found those customers still dedicated to lard and Lincoln Town Cars.
Undoubtedly, my family was one of millions that traded animal and dairy fat for hydrogenated vegetable oil, only to be distraught in the mid-2000s when science revealed that Crisco and Country Crock contained trans-fats, which actually made them unhealthier than what we traded them for.
While we returned to eating butter with slight trepidation (often differing to Smart Balance), our family never did get into lard. I assumed that lard was simply something nobody bought anymore, which is why I was surprised to come across it on my grocery excursion. I figured you had to special order it.
If you ask someone over 50 who is a serious home cook, they will tell you that lard works magic for foods like biscuits, fried chicken, pie crusts, and even scrambled eggs. While the average family may not need it, there are enough dedicated people out there to keep lard on store shelves.
Lard enjoys an interesting niche. Because the world was in such a hurry to run off and replace it, there are still many left behind who demand it. Thus, companies can continue selling lard without investing a great deal in marketing or advertising, because they know there will always be a finite but dedicated base of customers.
It seems Ford stumbled across a similar lesson in the world of automobiles. By not chasing after the latest trends in luxury cars, Ford cemented the Lincoln Town Car as the only luxury vehicle that stayed true to old values. So while the rest of the world rushed off to buy margarine and Mercedes Benzes, Ford found those customers still dedicated to lard and Lincoln Town Cars.
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