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Original poster

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

100 replies

Tryphena68 · 18/01/2010 15:16

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

OP posts:
schroeder · 18/01/2010 16:20

Slightly off topic but did anyone see that Doctor on breakfast this morning saying butter should be banned

BadGardener · 18/01/2010 16:20

sorry, last bit should read 'it's a much easier way to get dcs excited about cooking than making salad IME!'

Horton · 18/01/2010 16:20

I would also much rather use lard than margarine. Margarine is the devil's own foodstuff as far as I'm concerned, especially the low-fat types which are basically yellow water with a load of nasty foul-tasting chemical slurry in it.

tartyhighheels · 18/01/2010 16:21

This is mumsnet, I am not sure any of us are capable of a simple yes or no. It's not personal but your reaction to this is extraordinary so you should expect people to have a big reaction to it.

I wonder when you asked for a balanced viewpoint, did you mean you thought some people would agree with you?

BadGardener · 18/01/2010 16:25

you can get this t-shirt

Original poster
Tryphena68 · 18/01/2010 16:26

Lol - yes i cook at home. I never buy processed food, so I have no choice but to cook. When I mentioned olive oil I was thinking more generally in cooking, not in cookies.

And I disagree about lard being better for you than a non-hydrogenated sunflower spread. How can a proven cause of cholesterol be better for you?

I'm not a control freak, I'm very relaxed - I just think when we are bombarded by healthy eating campaigns, healthy eating in pregnancy, healthy eating for babies and toddlers, healthy eating for a healthy heart, there is some irony teaching people to use lard in a cookie recipe when easy, healthy alternatives are available.

OP posts:
Shodan · 18/01/2010 16:29

It would make for a very dull thread if everyone just said 'yes' or 'no'.....

Personally would never use lard for biscuits but if that's the recipe then fair enough.

I do think you're getting unnecessarily overwrought about this.

Bella32 · 18/01/2010 16:30

Seriously, lard is very good for you:

[[http://geniuscook.com/lard-is-healthy/ health benefits]

  • vitamins, omega 6 and it prevents atherosclerosis.

You may need to apologise to the school for your ignorance on the subject, OP

GetOrfMoiLand · 18/01/2010 16:30

lol at "This is mumsnet, I am not sure any of us are capable of a simple yes or no" - that sums us all up.

I must say I am slightly agog at a recipe which calls for lard in the actual biscuit, but butter for greasing the tray.

To be honest though I would be more pleased at the fact that at the secondary school they actually do cooking, and not just theory. I would not have bothered compkaining about this.

Bella32 · 18/01/2010 16:31

Lard is good for you

ShinyAndNew · 18/01/2010 16:32

Dd1 cooks with lard at home. I wouldn't have a problem with her doing it at school. There is no other way to cook decent yorkishire puddings imo.

tartyhighheels · 18/01/2010 16:32

I wonder when you said a balanced opinion if you thought someone would agree with you?

Actually I do still use a couple of recipes from school. Cheese sauce for my lasagne, my best friend still uses the school pizza base and lentil savoury recipe because they are lovely and I still cook basically the same recipe for sausage casserole that I did for CSE Home Ec exam - actually this had lard originally to cook the sausages in...... these recipes are from the bad old 80's when we were relaxed about saturated fats and trans fatty acids....

BadGardener · 18/01/2010 16:32

hmm, link says you have to eat it with garlic though.
Unless these are the teacher's famous Garlic and Lard Cookies....

OrmRenewed · 18/01/2010 16:33

Hmmm not sure I'd want to use margarine - all those trans-fats. Biscuits are treats so not going to be a staple of anyones diet. I really don't see how that is going to be harmful.

How about puff-pastry? IIRC that had to have lard in it.

How is lard not 'fresh food'.

BadGardener · 18/01/2010 16:33

Hang on OP, you got your dd to do the cheese and potato pie instead.... is this cheese with no cholesterol then?

exexpat · 18/01/2010 16:34

I wouldn't be worried about the health pros and cons in a one-off recipe, but would be absolutely staggered by a school choosing a recipe with an ingredient off limits to anyone Muslim/Jewish/vegetarian and no doubt various other people too.... Specially when it's hardly an essential ingredient: most cookie/biscuit recipes use butter or other fats. How many decades has the food science teacher been there for?

Blu · 18/01/2010 16:34

To make short pastry, yes I would advocate using a mix of butter and lard, as it is the best!

I would NEVER advocate using margarine or any kind of hydrogenated / trans fats in anything. Bleugh, tastes horrible and is very bad for you.

lou031205 · 18/01/2010 16:36

I honestly think that it is neurotic to stop a 12 year old baking some cookies using lard in class. Presumably, the biscuits would be brought home to share, so the actual amount of lard ingested would be tiny anyway.

www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/natural-health-articles/nutrition/trans-fatty-acids-lard-better-than-vege table-oil-00298.html

cory · 18/01/2010 16:38

Personally, I would feel I had missed out on my dcs cultural education if they got to 21 and didn't know what lard was. Doesn't mean I have to like the stuff or use it. I still want them to know about traditional British culture.

But more importantly, I want them to have healthy eating habits that will survive one single batch of cookies, I want them to know that are different ways of doing most things, and some of those ways are best for everyday and others might have to be reserved for one special occasion.

Not letting a 12yo make a recipe because you don't want her to find out about something that contradicts what you try to teach sounds like it has the potential of back-firing. This young lady is not so far off the time when she will be catering for herself: she needs to get used to making her own decisions.

Bella32 · 18/01/2010 16:39

OP - the link says lard lowers blood cholesterol.

I'd start drafting that apology now, if I were you

And there's good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, and we all need some cholesterol to be healthy

fruitstick · 18/01/2010 16:40

cranky, I actually didn't think about the muslim/jewish aspect - that's a good point and the school probably should be a bit more aware.

However OP, I am sorry we have upset you (it seems you are easily upset). I think we are merely questioning why, given you were given a very reasonable alternative by the school in the form of cheese and potato pie, you felt so strong as, not only complain to the school, but also to post at length on here.

So you mind giving your children lard, others clearly don't and they have as much right to enjoy school cookery as you do.

Enjoy your pie!

StanleyAccrington · 18/01/2010 16:43

yes. healthier than trans fats, more lightness than butter alone. everything in moderation and all that jazz.

sarah293 · 18/01/2010 16:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

TheWorldFamousKewcumber · 18/01/2010 16:46

can I have the recipe please? I'm fascinated by the idea of lardy biscuits.

But my only issue with lard would be the veggie aspects - would have no problem with some butter and its much the same thing really. Obviously if all recipes she's being expecetd to cook are full of fats then I would certianly comment if this is the only one you have an issue with then I'd let it go.

I doubt the majority of parents are going to rush out and buy non-hydrogenated sunflower spread just for one school biscuit recipe but then maybe its more common your way. I live in a pretty poncey area and I doubt many parents would have non-hydrogenated sunflower oil to hand.

BadGardener · 18/01/2010 16:48

Kew, oatcakes often have lard in them: oatcake recipe