# Is fat by itself delicious to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [January 12, 2023, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128 "2023-01-12T20:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d78d45/32.png) [@gre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gre)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/21 "2023-01-12T21:57:52Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Canola oil is just nasty stuff. Now that’s interesting. Maybe I’ve grown so used to it that I’ve lost awareness of it having a flavor. I can’t remember whether I’ve had peanut oil, but I have the idea it’s supposed to taste somewhat peanutty. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/22 "2023-01-12T22:23:58Z")
I don’t like fat in meat, especially when it’s like a pork fat cap or something. My husband is Japanese, and they love the fat in a pork cutlet, they think it’s the best part. I find it unpleasant. Also chicken fat, if it wasn’t rendered out in cooking. Once we were in a very nice high-end restaurant (Fifth Floor in San Francisco, if anyone remembers it) for a special occasion. We decided to have the 7 course chef’s tasting with a different wine selected for each course. Along about the 4th or 5th course was this small block of off-white matter, probably with some kind of sauce under it like they do. Turns out it was a block of lard, and they called the dish lardo. It had almost no taste, and the texture was okay, I assumed they had processed it in some way, that it wasn’t just a hunk of lard hacked off an animal. I thought that was a weird thing to serve, and my husband and I were talking about it, in quite subdued voices, when suddenly someone glides up next to us to ask how things are, turned out to be the chef. When I expressed my surprise at being served a block of lard, I clearly lost all credibility as a food maven with him, and he fairly abruptly left the table. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/23 "2023-01-12T22:55:02Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > A chunk of animal fat contains lots of connective tissue, which can make it quite gross for lots of people who don’t care for that sort of texture (I don’t care for it myself). But rendered animal fat, like (delicious, delicious) chicken schmaltz, bacon drippings etc. is the food of heaven. yummy yummy connective tissue. Especially if it’s been caramelized a little bit, and is crunchy. Yes, I prefer gribnes (sp? crispy fried bits of chicken fat) to schmaltz. Schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) is okay. It’s good for frying latkes, but I find it a little cloying. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/24 "2023-01-12T23:12:24Z")
Soft fat is disgusting. I will always leave it on my plate when eating a steak and I prefer my bacon crispy. Chewy goopy fat is just 🤮 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/25 "2023-01-12T23:14:07Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > As a kid I was notorious for performing surgery on my meat to excise every bit of pure fat When I was a kid, my siblings would trim their fat and give it to me. I ate it and loved it. I also ate chicken tails. Those days have been gone for a verrrrrrrry long time. ETA: One of my cousins (a skinny cousin) liked to roll a cube of butter in sugar and eat it. Guess our genes pre-disposed us to liking fat. 🐖 ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/26 "2023-01-12T23:19:40Z")
I love fat. I try and trim most of it off for health reasons but if you gave me steak with a ring of fat my preference would be to cut it so I got a bit of fat with each bite. I like bacon cooked soft. I like full rib slabs over baby backs because I want to eat through the fatty cartilage in search of meat. I love to eat greasy baked chicken thighs. I like to eat connective tissue and skin and bone. There is something primal and visceral about it which adds a lot to the experience. I also like to have good table manners and try to be a bit health conscious. These types of things are reserved for a few times a year. The only positive about it is that I don’t have a sweet tooth. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/27 "2023-01-12T23:24:02Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > When I was a kid, my siblings would trim their fat and give it to me. I ate it and loved it. I also ate chicken tails. Those days have been gone for a verrrrrrrry long time. > > ETA: One of my cousins (a skinny cousin) liked to roll a cube of butter in sugar and eat it. Guess our genes pre-disposed us to liking fat. I still eat chicken tails. They are all crispy and delicious when the chicken is done roasting. And sometimes…not very often… I’ll put some butter and some brown sugar in a ramekin, mix it up to make “frosting”, and eat it with a spoon. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/28 "2023-01-12T23:39:58Z")
Fat isn’t tasty just by itself, but it can make other foods tasty when used correctly. It isn’t _just_ the fat that make bacon tasty. It’s the combination of salt, fat, curing, and cooking that makes it tasty. I learned from _Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat_ that cured meats are somewhat acidic. And that led me to my theory as to why bacon is so tasty. It already contains the first three elements (salt, fat, and acid) just by itself. So all it needs is heat. When I make a thick steak or pork chop, I make sure to salt the sides of the meat, not just the top and bottom. And when I sear it I sear the sides of the meat, not just the top and bottom (both tricks I learned from the aforementioned book). So then the fat cap on the edge of the meat isn’t just fat, it’s salty, slightly crispy fat, which makes it tastier (and no longer what I would consider “fat by itself”, so I still stand by the first sentence of this post). ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/29 "2023-01-12T23:49:19Z")
Reminds me of this thread: [Anyone else crave the fattiest parts of meat and poultry?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-crave-the-fattiest-parts-of-meat-and-poultry/732141) For me, yes, fat is delicious – at least the fat on meat. In moderation, anyway – I couldn’t eat more than a few ounces of, say, beef or pork fat without feeling ill. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/30 "2023-01-13T01:04:25Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > A chunk of animal fat contains lots of connective tissue, which can make it quite gross for lots of people who don’t care for that sort of texture (I don’t care for it myself). But rendered animal fat, like (delicious, delicious) chicken schmaltz, bacon drippings etc. is the food of heaven. Well - [cracklings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracklings) [what is left in the kettle when you render out a pigs worth of fat, you pour the liquid melt into molds, and skim out the fried crunchy bits] are the precursors to junk food pork rinds and are amazeballs, I absolutely adore proper cracklings. Can’t abide pork rinds. There can be an interesting mouthfeel to proper cracklings - part of them are sort of that crispysoft fat, with more crunchybits that were the connective tissues, rendered less hard to chew by the cooking [the reason for the 137F club in those into sous vide of meat] Back when I lived in Virginia Beach VA, the localish pork company [Smithfield] would sell cracklings that were the byproduct of making pure leaf lard. [Carried at the local FarmFresh my favorite branch was 21st Street Norfolk] The closest most people will ever manage to get to cracklings is actually bacon [streaky bacon if you are from the European side of the ocean] as some of the best [cracklings](https://acadianaprofile.com/best-of-cracklins/) are made in Louisiana from slabs of raw pork belly with the skin still on cut into fingerlings and tossed in and fried up. My favorite place to get them was actually a little gas station convenience store in Lafayette, no idea if it is still there. So yes, in a sense I love fat. Cracklings and bacon my favorite delivery system. But I do actually like a properly crispy rendered edge of a steak, but only when in a bite with a nice rare-medium rare bite. I have been known to manage to get calories down by butter on saltine crackers - chemo is a bitch, sometimes flavor is nausa-inducing, and mayo again as a very neutral fat as a calorie delivery system. > [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Now that I’ve read this, you’re right! So, what was that diet that I was on? It was touted by some doctor, and in fact one of my mother’s friends was the ghost writer for his publications. Ornish? Keyes? Both touted ultra low fat dieting. My personal take on things is eat what you will, just in moderation - some people do better on a high fat low carb diet, some do better on a low fat carby diet. mrAru is the low fat sort, I am the high fat sort, go figure. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > they called the dish lardo Well, lardo is sort of an acquired taste, the times I have had it or the Russianish/balkan version it was supposed to be eaten in thin slices on toasted bread, and that way [nice homemade very carraway seedy rye] was actually rahter nice. > [@sitchensis](#): > > I love to eat greasy baked chicken thighs Thighs are actually my favorite cut of the chicken, though I really like old school deep fried chicken wings, though a little salt and pepper instead of the Frank’s Hot Sauce/butter wing sauce. I absolutely love the crunchy fried skin - I would be all over a restaurant that served deep fried or fire grilled chicken skin. > [@WildaBeast](#): > > So then the fat cap on the edge of the meat isn’t just fat, it’s salty, slightly crispy fat, which makes it tastier (and no longer what I would consider “fat by itself”, so I still stand by the first sentence of this post). Do you like the new fad for [pichana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picanha)? I have had it in a Brazilian meat restaurant and enjoyed it but would love to get one and cook it without the Brazilian spices. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/31 "2023-01-13T01:06:46Z")
Sometimes the fatty parts of things can be delicious to me, but they always have some other flavor in them, even if they are predominantly fat. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/32 "2023-01-13T01:11:40Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Do you like the new fad for [pichana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picanha)? I have had it in a Brazilian meat restaurant and enjoyed it but would love to get one and cook it without the Brazilian spices. I’ve had it on a sandwich from a Brazilian-American fusion place. It was really tasty on the sandwich, but I’ve never tried cooking it myself. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/33 "2023-01-13T01:12:00Z")
I’m getting the impression that the world is much more polarized than I realized on whether lumps of soft animal fat are delicious or disgusting. But maybe all the people who can take it or leave it aren’t posting their views. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/34 "2023-01-13T01:17:43Z")
Probably =) ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/35 "2023-01-13T01:19:24Z")
If cooked and crispy, yes. Not a blob of lard but I love beef, pork & lamb fat and chicken/turkey skin. I do like bacon & pork belly but the pork belly does have to be nice and caramelized- it may still taste ok but its a waste of calories if its not done right. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/36 "2023-01-13T01:21:36Z")
No. I trim the fat off cooked roast or steak befire eating. A lot of chicken fat bothers me. It’s hard to avoid since its hidden under the juicy fried skin. I was taught to never cook with beef fat (Tallow). I save bacon grease to add to green vegetables or fry eggs. Tallow goes into paper towels and thrown out. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/37 "2023-01-13T01:24:00Z")
I love cooking things with duck fat, but I can’t stand to eat pieces of it - or chunks of any other animal fat, for that matter. I get the leanest cuts of meat I can, and anything remotely fatty-looking gets trimmed off before eating. I used to love dipping pieces of bread in olive oil, but my body has let me know in no uncertain terms that it can’t handle this anymore. 🫤 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/38 "2023-01-13T01:39:45Z")
🤢 🤮 🤮 🤮 Fat off of meat – blech. It’s just…ugh. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/39 "2023-01-13T02:35:46Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’m getting the impression that the world is much more polarized than I realized on whether lumps of soft animal fat are delicious or disgusting. But maybe all the people who can take it or leave it aren’t posting their views I’m confused by this. While some people in the thread have indeed said that they love it or that they hate it, it seems to me that quite a lot of us have instead said things like ‘a little bit, mixed with something, not on its own’ and/or ‘only if it’s crispy’ and/or ‘this kind, but not that kind’. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128/40 "2023-01-13T02:37:45Z")
Ok, so maybe it’s a different kind of sampling error - my own confirmation bias in paying more attention to posts that expressed an extreme opinion! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fat-by-itself-delicious-to-you/978128.md?page=3)