The Delights of Dairy
Blog Entry: Friday 13 Mar 2009
‘Would Nigella Lawson be so keen to sample the delights of her own labours if there was margarine in the mixing bowl?’ Prince asks in a retort to this week’s ruling from ‘The Fat Panel’ who claim our favourite celebrity chefs use too much saturated fat.
‘If there is one thing left in this gloomy, credit-crunched life where every pursuit is spoiled by over zealous health and safety measures, it is the comfort of eating,’ writes Prince. ‘Cooking out of our favourite books is a cheap way to cheer ourselves up. Restaurants may be going bust left, right and centre, but cook books have come into their own. What are celebrity chefs for if not the sensuality of their hugely indulgent creamy soups, buttery sauces and rich puddings? The idea of Nigella Lawson licking a finger dipped into a bowl of cake batter made with margarine makes me feel sick, but it makes perfect sense when there is butter in the mix.’
‘To say that margarine or vegetable oil spread is a healthy alternative to butter is highly debateable,’ she continues. ‘The recommendation that has insisted upon this since hydrogenated margarine started to replace butter in convenience food is currently being rewritten. Butter is not the bogey man of the bad diet, as we have been led to believe. Butter contains vital nutrients; the vitamins in the fat help us absorb calcium and it also has strong anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties.’
Prince concludes her ‘Delights of dairy’ with a mouth watering, buttered up wish-list of asparagus, cookies, Jersey Royals, lemon sole and hot toast.
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