Would you advocate cooking with lard in your childs cooking class?

[Tryphena68]

Hi Mumsnetters,

I'm not a regular poster on here but I'd really like a balanced opinion on something.

My daughter has a recipe for cooking in school today (Year 7) and it includes lard. The recipe is for cookies. I think this is awful, we've never bought lard, my 21 year old daughter didn't even know what it was when I told her this yesterday! I can't see why margarine or olive oil can't be used instead. So I haven't let her make the cookies, she is doing the alternative Cheese and Potato pie instead.

What worries me is the attitude of the school. Apparently since they have een making this recipe for years they don's want to change it and I am the only person ever to complain. I think it is wrong to teach children to cook with a bad saturated fat. When I asked the Head of Food Science about this she said a lot, but made the comment "Where do you want to take this? We use white flour, are you tring to say we should all switch to wholemeal?". I said well, yes! Why not? It would teach them good habits.

How do you feel about this issue? I am especially p off as we have huge healthy eating campaigns aimed at us a s parent to make sure the kids eat fresh food and yet they contradict this in school!

Thanks, if you got this far x

I think saturated fats are not intrinsically "bad" but OK used in moderation, that it's a bit shocking to get to 21 without even knowing what lard is And that if you're being paranoid about fats then rapeseed oil is generally preferable to margarine or olive oil on health grounds (balance between Omega 3 and Omega 6).

But I probably wouldn't normally bake a cookie recipe that involved lard.

obv...

but seriously....weeeellll, I would prefer to use butter in my cookies, but they are not force-feeding the children lard by the bucketful, are they? Its part of a recipe...

oh and [shudder] at margarine....even more awful imo

I've never come across a cookie recipe that used lard! Pastry yes - and you would certainly get a very different type of pastry if you used olive oil.

Actually I think it's incredibly important that children learn how to cook , regardless of the ingredients. Maybe, if they know what goes into foods they may be more likely to think twice before scoffing the lot down (sadly this rarely happen when I make chocolate brownies ).

I very much doubt that the rising obesity problem amongst children has much to do with cooking with lard, rather more to do with not knowing how to cook.

And how on earth does your 21 year old daughter not know what lard is? Shame on you! Have you never taught her to make pastry?

But if you object that strongly, I may be wrong but I have a feeling that Trex is a vegetable substitute but does the same thing.

Christ knows what cookie recipe in the world uses lard. Surely you would use butter in biscuits.

However, lard is the best to make really short pastry. So although you wouldn;t use it every day I don't think it is a problem on an occasional basis.

By the way, OP, the teachers will now put you down as a LOON mother and will be talking about you mad ways in teh staff room.

Erm well I do think for me it would depend on quantity and what it is used for. I mean is it a substitute for butter or do they use it to grease a baking tray? If they are using vast quantities then YANBU but a tiny bit won't hurt in an otherwise healthy diet.
My guess would be that they are also thinking about cost and about things people commonly have in their kitchen. For eaxmple wholemeal flour is more expensive than 'value' flour.

I remember using lard for puff pastry, but not cookies. Everything in moderation- YABU.

Are you sure the lard goes in the cookie rather than just to grease the baking sheet. How much do you have to provide?

Ingredients aren't bad, a diet can be bad. "Cookies are a sometimes food" after all

If, overall, your dd's school covers a range of cooking styles and techniques, then they are getting a useful skill. There's nothing wrong in them sometimes making a treat food. Though I've never heard of lard in a cookie recipe either...

I think you are overreacting.

Also, I don't want to fly in the face of modernity or anything but I think if someone says "they have been doing it for years and I am the only person ever to complain" you don't need mumsnet to make you have a good think about it.

Oh my goodness, is this really such a big issue????? I think you are really over reacting and I cannot believe that you have wasted a teachers time about this. Like everyone else I think lard for biccies is a bit weird and I would prefer butter personally but I think you need to keep this in proportion. And do you know how processed margarine is? - I wouldn't feed it to a dog! but that's a whole different argument. My kids have real butter and we even occasionally cook roasties in goose fat! We have a great amount of dietary restrictions with a diabetic and both the olders ones having coeliacs so learning to cook is vital for them in the long term and freaking out about an ingredient is bonkers!

I know what lard is because I was taught to cook at school, however I really cannot remember if I have ever bought it myself. I even use suet in dumplings, real suet made from cow bits! Knowing these things and how to use them does not teach children bad habits.

Using a bit of lard in a recipe does not contradict a healthy eating policy, not no way not no how.

The phrase 'too much time on your hands' also springs to mind.

OK thanks for the replies. I've never cooked with lard and don't eat pastry, that's why my daughter didn't know what it was. I certainly don't feel any shame for not giving my children pastry.

Yes, it was to go in the cookies. "Small amount of butter for greasing" was required for the tray.

And as for the staff room, I don't really care if they put me down as a loon - my purpose is not to conform to their ways but to bring up my children as healthily and happily as I can.

There is nothing wrong with a bit of lard IMO. Everything in moderation and all that...

I have no idea why a recipe for cookies would include lard but I would much prefer my children ate homemade cookies rather than shop bought with the added preservatives and flavourings and heaven knows what else.

Butter would be my fat of choice for cookies

I cook my roast potatoes in lard

Not seen it used in biscuits though.

I'd actually prefer lard to processed margarine because at least it's a natural substance.

I use it in pastry and have come across some biscuit recipes that use it.

And I did ask for a balanced viewpoint - I don't think that calls for the tone with which your replies have been sent - simple yes and no would've sufficed!

Do the words control freak mean anything to you?

This child is 12. It is one recipe. With a little saturated fat.

YABU

On second thought, this is a wind-up isn't it?

Isn't it?

IIRC Nigella's digestive biscuit recipe has lard in it.
I find when I make pastry with it it is slightly easier to rub in than all butter, which could well be a factor if you are teaching children to cook. Not to mention that it is much cheaper.

OP, if you don't mind my asking, do you not do much cooking yourself? I've never heard of a cookie recipe using olive oil, and you do know there are health fears about margarines containing transfats, don't you?

I would be very happy for my dcs to be taught to cook with lard! If the school only ever had them cooking 'unhealthy' recipes like biscuits I would have an issue with that, but I would expect them to do some cakes or biscuits with them because it's a much easier way to get dcs excited about cooking biscuits than making salad IME!

I think lard is fairly outdated now - we used to use it at school, but I've never bought it for baking at home.

I'd be surprised that they were using it in school, but I wouldn't think it was "awful" - not so much because I think it's unhealthy, but because I think that they should be teaching kids to cook things that will be useful to them in future, and that they will be likely to make again.

Lard's better than marge, for the reasons abride states.
I'd be more concerned that Muslim or Jewish children would eat it unwittingly tbh.

Well, we're balancing up your comments - not letting her do it, saturated fat being bad, complaining to the teacher, being pissed off....

Mary Berry says you shouldn't use anything that's less than 70% fat.