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York Foods

York Foods


Chef Secrets That Turn Home Cooked Meals To Gourmet

15 August 2016

Five tips that will work every time to take your cooking to the next level and impress your next dinner guests.


START ON THE RIGHT FOOTING-FRESH AND SEASONAL PRODUCE

Say no to out of season ingredients and hello to fresh and seasonal produce. Not only is it cost effective to use produce in season, saving you a lot on your weekly grocery shopping, the benefits also extend to adding richer flavor to any dish. Fruit and vegetables that are not in season locally are grown in a hothouse or shipped from other parts of the world then chilled and held in warehouses which means they don’t have a chance to develop their full flavor and you can definitely taste the difference. Not to mention that out of season fruit and vegetables have less nutrients than in season produce. So what are you waiting for? Find your local organic grocer and start stocking up on local fruit and vegetables for your next gourmet meal and cook or dab your veggies with dripping or lard to help those essential vitamins and nutrients be better absorbed by your body.

WORK ON THE RIGHT FLAVOUR COMBINATIONS

Once you have decided on using fresh ingredients, the next step for a Chef is to develop a dish that has complementary flavours. Are you curious why some ingredients seem to have a natural affinity for one another while others just don't work well together?

It’s also about unexpected ingredient combinations that show off the uniqueness of a dish and have your dinner guests asking for that secret ingredient. Welcome to a chef’s world of food pairing or otherwise known as “flavour combinations”- a growing ability to unlock new flavour combinations and expand your gourmet repertoire. It is estimated that smell determines 80% of our flavour experience leaving only taste and touch accounting for only 20% of the overall eating experience! So what is the secret to pairing the right agreements? If truth be told when two or more ingredients share the same aroma components then they are complementary and can work well in any dish that you develop (all other things being equal) - it’s that easy! Think about that incredible smell that wafts through your kitchen when dripping is being heated in the oven; it makes your mouth water and pairs beautifully with root vegetables and of course meats, enhancing their natural flavours.

HOW TO PERFECT A SAUCE

Whether it’s the perfect bolognaise sauce, hollandaise sauce or tomato sauce- if you are a frequent watcher of reality cooking TV shows you will know that the winners are always those that can perfect a sauce that raises the bar on any dish.

So how do you create that unforgettable sauce? The key is to season a sauce at the end and never during the process of making it. When your sauce has reached the proper consistency then is the right time to add salt not before.

There are plenty other ingredients to add to a sauce, not just salt to improve its flavour. If it’s an Italian sauce then fresh herbs like basil and oregano always lifts the taste or why not try adding some whole milk or heavy cream and allow to simmer in the pan for several minutes. If you feel like enhancing flavor to a roux, add lard to flour as a substitute for butter, fry off onion and garlic or spice mixes using dripping and get hooked on adding a twist to your sauce.

SETTING THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE

Have you ever moved house and tried a new oven only to find that it overcooks a roast or burns any of your baking attempts? Chefs know that you need to check appliances to ensure that they will deliver the results you are looking for in the kitchen.

For ovens, a foolproof way before you place anything in an oven, whether it’s a main meal or a dessert is to always use a thermometer and not just to rely on the temperature you set in the oven. That way you know absolutely, without question that you have the right temperature for cooking. Try it and see for yourself- particularly for all aspiring bakers, it’s the only fool-proof way to ensure perfecting baking.

USE FATS RATHER THAN OILS TO IMPROVE FLAVOUR (AND NUTRITION)

Quality animal fats are the healthy alternative to heavily processed cooking oils. If you really want to impress your friends and family, why not try our lard which we’re thrilled to see finally back in vogue with many chefs world-wide. Lard and dripping are slowly returning to being a secret weapon in the kitchen as they pack not just a flavor punch but also the incredible aromas that are so loved by many for transforming a plain dish into a gourmet meal!

At the end of the day, cooking in the 21st century is not only about a dish being cooked to perfection and in style, it is also about eating clean and knowing that you are putting your health first. This means improving the absorption of nutrients by serving your vegetables with a dab of healthy fats and choosing fat products that haven’t been overprocessed and stripped of all goodness. Take a step in the right culinary direction and you’ll feel (and taste!) the difference.


Warm the Heart, The Home and The Belly This Winter

12 July 2016

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Winter is well and truly upon us and for most this means a yearning for warming, hearty food that fill your home with delicious smells and brings the family together.

But have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you crave these heavier foods in the cold months? The answer is surprisingly simple. Higher fat foods take longer for your digestive system to break down which not only leaves you feeling satiated for longer, it means that your body is working on them for longer which elevates your internal temperature and keeps you warmer.

The reduced daylight hours during the winter months can also result in many people lacking in Vitamin D (which is necessary for metabolism and mineral absorption) as sunlight is the best source of this particular vitamin. But that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on this vital vitamin as Lard is another great source!

So today we’re sharing with you a great winter recipe to fill your stomach with a good, wholesome, nutritious meal. This one is especially easy because it uses the slow cooker to create a great result with the added benefit of coming home to a house that smells incredible!

This recipe is a perfect one to gather than family around the table to enjoy a meal together. Have all the components on the table and let everyone add their own “extras” to suit their tastes. Kids especially love this one with the flavoursome meat and taking part in making their meal. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

Ingredients

  • 2kg pork scotch fillet (or neck if you can get it - ask your butcher)
  • 1 tbs ground cumin
  • 1-2 tsp chilli powder (more or less depending on your preference)
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp ground cloves
  • 2 dried bay leaves
  • Generous pinch salt
  • 250g York Foods Lard (yes, it’s a lot but trust us, its absolutely necessary and creates the most delicious, moist pork!)

Instructions

  1. Put your pork fillet into the slow cooker
  2. Combine all the spices and using your hands, rub the spices all over the pork so it’s well coated
  3. Cut up the lard into cubes to help it melt faster and put them around the pork in the slow cooker
  4. Cook on low setting for 6-8 hours
  5. Pull out the bay leaves
  6. Shred the meat with a fork (it should just fall apart, if it doesn’t, give it a little longer)
  7. Don’t drain all that glorious liquid. The pork will soak up a lot of it once it’s been shredded.

Serve in warm tortillas topped with a selection of chopped corriander, diced onion, diced tomato, guacamole, chilli, sour cream and/or homemade refried beans. Also delicious on rolls with coleslaw the next day.

We’d love to see your photos if you cook up this dish! Just share them on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtags #yorkfoods #bringbacklard


Not All Fats Are Created Equal

1 June 2016


We’ve loved seeing the surge in knowledge surrounding good fats becoming talking points in mainstream media over the last few weeks but like anything, there will always be business’ out to make a quick buck who will try and cash in on this by either relabelling their inferior products to market to the “good fat” crowd or by creating cheap products from sub par ingredients that they try and pass off as the real deal.

With lower quality fats becoming available, it made us really sad to think how many people, just trying out dripping for the first time, would try these because they’re slightly cheaper and be disappointed, just assuming that’s the quality and taste they should expect so never trying another and therefore missing out on the York Foods difference.

Please don't be fooled by these “new” fats or repackaged fats looking for your business. Not all fats are created equal! Do not settle for something cheaper or “new and exciting” as chances are you will not be satisfied.

Here at York Foods we have been making fats for your kitchen for over 3 generations, we survived the lows and then the extreme lows but we are still here because we make the best, 100% pure, products on the market and we make them right here in Australia!

We are a small family owned company that knows the texture, smells and taste of all our fats, we will NOT put inferior raw materials into your product or look for fast opportunities to make the fat which compromise the quality, like hydrogenation, deodorizing or homogenising. We are 100% pure and natural. Quite simply, nothing else compares.

Making quality fats for your kitchen is not a business it is who we are, we live and breath the world of Lard and Dripping and have done so for 3 generations, with your continued support we would like to see this continue.

Support York Foods by purchasing our 250g blocks of dripping and lard from your local Coles, Woolworths or IGA supermarket or larger jars from our website, sharing the word about our products via your social media platforms and help to not just #bringbacklard and #bringbackdripping but ensure that people new to this kind of eating know to try the best quality products possible!


 


Add Some Lard To Your Beauty Regime

3 May 2016

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Hopefully by now the word is out about how brilliant animal fats are for your insides, but today we’re sharing something a little different. How you can incorporate lard into your beauty regime to keep your outsides looking and feeling great too.

To be completely honest, using lard as a natural moisturiser and in natural soaps is really very simple, the hardest part for most people is the mental idea of slathering themselves in fat when we’ve been conditioned to believe that oils are the cause of breakouts!

But when you think about it there’s really nothing more logical. Do you think our paleolithic ancestors were covering themselves in $200 serums to protect their skin from the elements? No, they would have used what was available to them; fats from the animals they’d caught themselves (ok we’re making an educated guess here but it makes sense).

If you’ve found yourself eating more meat and therefore handling meat more regularly you may have even noticed the difference in your hands already. It’s pretty common to hear from people switching to a more paleo way of eating.

So how does it work as a moisturiser? Simple. Just warm a small amount of lard in your palm until it’s spreadable (or soften in the microwave for a couple of seconds - BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOURSELF!) and slather it all over your face, body, hands or feet after a shower. Be aware that there will likely be residue on your pillowcase or sheets so be sure to take that into consideration. If you’re using it on your hands and feet then popping on some socks or cotton gloves is a great idea to keep it contained. In the morning you can just cleanse your face as normal. There are even recipes out there for healing balms containing lard and your favourite essential oil!

What about making your own soap using lard? Your skin is your largest organ so why do we seem to have this compulsive need to coat ourselves in bodywash full of chemicals and preservatives that we can’t even pronounce? Making soap with lard as a central ingredient is pretty simple and creates your very own creamy, mild, moisturizing bar with the added benefit of knowing exactly what’s gone into it.

There are so many recipes and instructions available on the internet so have a look around but for a nice, simple beginners recipe you just need 3 ingredients - lard, water and caustic soda (aka lye) and some patience. This is a great tutorial showing you how to do it all, step by step.

Lard is a lovely, gentle ingredient for the skin, but there will always be some people who react to certain ingredients so be sure to try it on a small, inconspicuous area before lathering your whole body as a soap or moisturiser.

Ready to add lard to your beauty regime? Remember you can buy online here or in the chiller section of selected Coles, Woolworths and IGA stores Australia wide.

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Making Pastry? You Need To Get Some Dripping Or Lard

5 April 2016

If you ask any good chef they’ll tell you that when it comes to making light, delicious, flaky pastry it has to be made using lard or dripping. For too many years we’ve been told that shortenings like the american Crisco product are much the same thing but this couldn’t be further from the truth. If you want scrumptious flavour you can’t go past this good old fashioned traditional favourite. 

Most recipes for shortcrust pastry call for a combination of both butter and lard which adds an additional flavour boost while taking advantage of the lards special texture and higher melting point. For puff pastry on the other hand, most chefs tend to stick with just lard or dripping which is the way it’s traditionally been done for hundreds of years and produces superb results.

We recently shared with you a video showing you how to make your own shortcrust and puff pastry at home. Chef Chistof uses beef dripping to make a delicious puff pastry and lard for a lovely shortcrust which he uses to make an incredible pork pies. Check it out below.

Chef Christof says he loves to use fat for several reasons: 

  • Use the fat of the animal to cook the animal - if you’re cooking a pork pie then shortcrust with lard is the perfect combination
  • Flavour - it’s much better to use animal fat than other kinds when it comes to flavour

Popular chef Heston Blumenthal has been quoted saying how he much he loves using beef dripping in his cooking ‘I use beef dripping every time’ 

Making pastry is really much more simple than you’d expect. Of course it takes a little time and love than just buying ready made sheets from the supermarket, but the incredible flavour (not to mention bragging rights) you’ll get when you make it yourself as well as knowing exactly what’s going into your body will make the effort well rewarded.

What are our perfect pastry tips? 

  • Don’t overblend the lard or dripping and the flour. You want to see those delicious flattened out bit of fat in there. They’re what makes the pastry flaky!
  • Make sure your water is ice cold
  • Make sure your lard is cold but not frozen solid. You need to be able to manipulate it
  • Remember that if you’re adding butter as well as lard the pastry will be heavier than if you just use lard
  • Keep your hands cool if they tend to run warm

Chef and food stylist Jennifer McLagan's new cookery book even starts with “I love fat,” as she remembers growing up in the 1960’s here in Australia with a fridge full of butter, dripping and lard. *

So from humble grandma’s cooking up a storm to award winning chefs and authors, everyone is in agreement that when it comes to unbeatable flavour and the flakiest pastry around, you can’t look past dripping and lard!


*excerpt from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/fat-is-back-rediscover-the-delights-of-lard-dripping-and-suet-1642912.html


Let’s Talk About Dripping - The What, The Why And The How

1 March 2016

If you’re lucky enough to still have your parents or grandparents around, ask them the first thing that comes to mind when you say the word “dripping” and you can bet that most of the time, the first thing they’ll do is smile.

A typical afternoon tea throughout the 40’s and 50’s (for the average family that is) was homemade bread spread with beef dripping. It was delicious, filling and cheap. Every home had a dripping pot that was added to with each roast dinner. 

Then in the 70’s a (now all but debunked) paper was written telling everyone that saturated fats were bad and we should all start eating margarine and processed oils if we wanted to be healthy. Governments got on board with this message and the low fat movement took the world by storm.

Fast Forward to the last 2-3 years and we’re finally able to see the effects this horrible way of eating has had on our society. Heart disease and diabetes are running ramped and the western world has become the most overfed and undernourished they’ve been in history. Seeing this trend, more and more people are going back traditional styles of cooking using real, nutrient rich ingredients that are minimally processed and as close to nature intended as possible.

Love of cooking and cooking skills are often passed down through families, so the knowledge and skill of how to cook using traditional oils has been another victim of the low fat movement. We’re hoping to change that by giving you some basic tips, tricks and ideas to get you started in the hope that you’ll pass them onto your children and the tradition will continue.

The Basics 

When it comes to using dripping the perfect place to start is in the oven. Use it to roast your vegetables and enjoy not just an incredible aroma that will get your mouth watering, but the result will be crispy and delicious veg that you just can’t replicate with synthetic oils. Simply add a couple of tablespoons to the bottom of a baking tray and place in the oven while you’re preheating it. When liquid and hot there should be enough to generously cover the bottom of the pan. Just pop in your prepared potatoes and give a gentle swirl to coat and bake, turning once or twice for about an hour or until crisp and cooked.

The other place that dripping shines is in the frypan. Use a small amount to grease your pan before cooking a steak. Use a little more to coat the pan before cooking a frittata and enjoy the extra flavour boost that enhances rather than overpowers what you’re cooking.

Take it up a notch

We came across this delicious recipe for Panna cotta with roasted rhubarb and dripping cake on the BBC website that we had to share with you. Impress your family or guests with this rich, sweet cake paired with a light panna cotta. 

We recently added some great new videos to our website, including some yummy recipes using our beef dripping. You can check them out HERE.


6 Reasons Why Your Healthy Lifestyle Should Include Fats

27 January 2016


With the efficacy of “the low fat is best” message now being questioned by health professionals around the world, and the surge in popularity of “real food” and “paleo” food movements, Australians are getting a better understanding of the benefits of enjoying a higher fat diet based on real foods, cooked the way our great grandparents did.

Today we’re sharing our top 6 reasons why you should include fats as part of your healthy lifestyle.

Reason #1: Science says saturated fats don’t cause heart disease

In March 2014, a new meta-analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, using data from nearly 80 studies and more than a half million people, found that those who consume higher amounts of saturated fat have no more heart disease than those who consume less.

Reason #2: It highlights, rather than overpowers the taste of food

Don’t fall victim to the flavour crime of using olive or coconut oil in everything you cook. After a while, that’s all you can smell and taste - what a waste! With animal fats, you can choose the fat that will compliment and enhance the flavour of what you’re cooking and the smell will be mouthwatering.

Reason #3: Fat doesn’t make you fat!

In fact, when paired with a good source of protein it can make you feel fuller for longer, curbing hunger and cravings. When you consume less carbs and more good fats it supports your metabolism and thyroid hormone function which is involved in body fat regulation. Low fat foods, tend to be higher in carbs and sugar (or sugar replacement) which mean you’re hungry sooner and are consuming calories with poor nutrient profiles.

Reason #4: Better skin and eyes

If you suffer from dry skin and eyes, one possible cause is a deficiency in fatty acids. Increase the lubrication within your body by getting enough saturated and omega-3 fats every day. Saturated fats are rich in the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.

Reason #5: Stronger bones - especially as you get older

In order for calcium to be effectively incorporated into bone you need to have saturated fat. Dr Mary Enig, Ph.D - the foremost expert is dietary fats and human health suggests that as much as 50% of the fats in your diet should be saturated for this reason alone. You can drink as much milk as possible in an effort to improve your bone density but if you don’t include a good helping of saturated fat as well it’s not going to be effective.

Reason #6: Healthier brain function

Did you realise that your brain is made up mostly of fat and cholesterol? Most people are aware they should be eating more fish to get the unsaturated essential fatty acids found in cold water varieties, but many don’t realise that the majority of the fatty acids in the brain are actually saturated. Vitamins A, D, E and K are crucial for brain health and require fat to transport them around the body.

These are just some of the reasons why it’s important to include animal origin fats in your healthy diet. You no longer have to tolerate tasteless, unfulfilling low fat foods in order to be considered “healthy”. Your body needs good fats for optimal health so grab a block of dripping or lard from your local supermarket or a jar from www.yorkfoods.com.au


Fat & Dripping Isn’t Just For The Cooler Months!

21 December 2015

When most people think of dripping and lard they tend to think of warming dishes cooked long and lovingly. While this is of course one way to use these delicious fats, it’s certainly not the only way! Keep those jars at arms reach and use them for a variety of light dishes too.

Stirfrys are a great quick dinner all year around and with the addition of dripping to fry in you’ll get the most amazing smell, texture and taste. Just heat up a tablespoons worth of oil in your wok in place of synthetic oils or coconut oils and cook the same way you normally would. Hot and fast!

It doesn’t get much easier after a hot day than cooking up steak and chips for the family. Hardly any prep is needed and they only take a few minutes to cook so won’t heat up your kitchen.

How about starting a chip night each week? Team them up with steak, marinated chicken, fish or just a couple of slices of buttered bread for a quick, delicious meal.

Chip night doesn’t have to mean the same thing week in week out. When you’re making your own the only limit is your imagination!

Traditional french fries - they’re a classic for a reason. Here’s a video showing you how to make the most delicious french fries using dripping. You can use the same cooking technique for all the options below too.

Sweet potato fries - use the same fine cut as for french fries, or opt for a chunkier style. 

Curly fries - these are a favourite among the young and the young at heart! You just need a curly gadget from your local kitchen shop

Zucchini fries - lightly crumb fingers of zucchini for a healthier option

Eggplant fries - surprisingly creamy on the inside once cooked you can just lightly coat these in flour, salt and pepper.

Carrot fries - deliciously sweet they make a nice addition to the mix




Don't forget you can pick up blocks of York Foods dripping and lard from selected Woolworths, Coles and IGA or from the Our Products link above.


All the ways York Foods makes Christmas even better

30 November 2015

Christmas is a great time of year - family and friends coming together to celebrate and let’s be honest, food often plays a pivotal role. So why not impress your guests even more this year by including some good fats in your cooking.

Looking for some inspiration?

We shared some great Christmas pudding recipes last month that include suet that will leave your Christmas puddings moist and delicious in a way that butter and other options just can’t. November is the perfect time to get started with your puddings as the mixture is even more amazing if left to mature. You can find out more HERE

Mince pies are a Christmas staple in most households, but did you know they’re even better with the inclusion of suet! The moisture and flavour that is adds is incredible. HERE’s a good recipe for the mince.

Pork pies are something that isn’t as common here in Australia but is a popular addition to the Christmas table (and at any time of the year really!). Usually served cold with a delicious flavoured pork filling and pastry made using lard this is a great addition to your table. We recently created some videos to show you how to make your own pastry as well as the filling HERE.

Roast potato salad - everyone loves a potato salad. There’s rarely a picnic or BBQ where this salad doesn’t make an appearance so why not make it extra special this Christmas by roasting your potatoes before dressing them. By roasting them in lard you not only get that lovely golden colour and scrumptious flavour, you also get that an added crunch if you leave dressing until the last minute. THIS recipe here looks great. Just replace the oil with lard and add it to your roasting pan in the oven while it’s preheating.

Mini dessert pastries - Who doesn’t love a light, flaky pastry! Make your own pastry using lard, cut them into small circles, place in patty tins and blind bake until golden. Then fill with your favourite additions - lemon curd and cream, chocolate mousse or fruit salad are just some of the choices that mean your guests can have a little of everything. HERE is a great recipe for lime curd to add to your tart shells.

Boxing day fry up. Use up those leftover meats and vegies on boxing day morning by adding a generous tablespoon of dripping or lard to a pan and frying off those leftovers for a filling, delicious breakfast.

These are just some of the options to think about. We’d love to hear how you’re planning on using your York Foods dripping and lard this holiday season - just post on our Facebook page or send us an email. We LOVE seeing how you use our products!

Looking for some advice on the best way to incorporate dripping and lard in your cooking? Just get in touch with us, we’re happy to help.


Let’s Get Ready For Christmas With A Traditional Christmas Pudding

19 October 2015

Many families have tried and true recipes for Christmas puddings that have been passed down through the generations. Over the past 60 years or so though, way too many of these recipes have been changed to adopt the “low fat is best” mentality - much to the detriment of the flavour and texture of those classic puddings our great grandmas used to make.

So today we’re talking about Suet! This delicious fat is the secret ingredient to a moist, flavoursome and light Christmas pudding.

How you may ask? Why can’t you just use butter? Suet has a higher melting point than butter which means the pudding is able to cook for longer before the suet melts. If you think about a steamed pudding cooking away, if you’re using butter it will melt as soon as the mixture gets warm and amalgamate with it.

With suet, it’s usually broken up into quite small pieces which spread throughout the mixture. The pudding is able to cook for a while and start to set before the suet slowly melts into the surrounding pudding, creating little pockets of air that make the pudding lighter.

Think butter = potentially greasy and heavy pudding, Suet = light, moist and delicious.

Does it make my pudding taste “beefy”? That’s a valid question but the answer is no. When you’re dealing with strong other flavours of fruit, brandy and zests the very mild suet flavour is non detectable.

When should you ideally make your Christmas puddings? The suet in a traditional pudding helps to keep it rich and moist so you can make it around 5 weeks before Christmas and leave it to mature in a cool, dry place.

So now is the time to start planning for your Christmas puddings. If you don’t have a traditional recipe that uses suet, the internet is a fantastic resource. Here are a couple of recipes we’ve discovered that you can use your York Foods Grass Fed Beef Suet Drippings in - be sure to take some photos and put them on our Facebook page!

Our Grass Fed Beef Suet Dripping are available in 200g and 900g jars ready for you to start your Christmas planning.


How Do Fats Fit Into Your Paleo, Clean Eating or LCHF Lifestyle?

8 September 2015

It’s so great to see the clean eating, paleo and LCHF ways of eating becoming so mainstream and just as great to see so many people going back to traditional ways of cooking, just like their grandparents and great grandparents did.


Whether you’re completely new to this lifestyle or have been at it a while, you’ll know the importance of including healthy fats in your diet. But have you ever delved into why this is crucial?

Here are just a few of the reasons why good fat is a necessary part of your diet:

  • Provide fuel - when you aren’t consuming sugars and grains your body looks to fuel itself on fats so it’s important you are eating the right amount of the right kinds of fats
  • It keeps you satiated - because fat needs to be broken down through multiple processes and organs including the stomach, liver, gallbladder and small intestine, it stays in your body for a while which helps with hunger pangs
  • Essential for proper functioning of nerves and the brain - Our brain contains a large amount of essential fats and fats form part of the material that wraps around nerves cells so they can send electrical messages
  • Transporting fat soluble vitamins through the body - Vitamins A, D, E and K are all transported through our bloodstream with the help of fats

Now of course we are a fad driven society so when you think of fats, most people think of the new kid on the block - coconut oil. But for hundreds of years, long before the term “paleo eating” was conceived, people were eating delicious dripping and lard to maintain their health and make their food taste even better.

Now don’t get us wrong, coconut oil certainly has its place but if you want to avoid the same background taste and smell with every meal you cook as well as increase the flavour of your food and have the ability to use a fat that will enhance rather than overpower your meal - you can’t go past the variety that animal fat offers.

Still not sure exactly what fats you should be consuming? Here’s a few ideas:

  • Lard - preferably free range
  • Dripping - preferably organic and grass fed
  • Duck fat
  • Avocados
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Grass fed butter
  • Coconut Oil

But of course not all kinds of fats are good for us. In fact the over processed oils on most supermarket shelves are doing us a lot more harm than good so should definitely be avoided.

What types of oils should you be avoiding?

  • Canola oil
  • sunflower oil
  • Soybean oil
  • Cottonseed oil
  • Margarine

So it’s really not hard to increase the amount of good fats in your diet. With so many options available you really can add a little fat to every dish you make and enjoy the variety of flavours that will compliment your cooking.

Looking for inspiration? Check out the recipes page on our website. Want to find out more about the lifestyle benefits of good fats? Just click here


Lard and everyday cooking

29 July 2015


 

Taking a closer look at lard and dripping


Ask anyone over 50 and they will more than likely share fond memories of being served lardon bread when they were younger, or will try to explain to you the importance of the dripping pot in their home. This generation understood the benefits of including natural lard and dripping in their diet and we often hear grumblings from our older customers about how this has changed over the years.


This cultural shift against fats came about shortly after the second World War when low-fat diets emerged and corseted women became more self conscious about their waste lines. ‘Fat’ became the new taboo and many were encouraged to reduce the amount of daily fat consumed. This meant that the humble dripping pots were put away on top shelves never to be seen again, and lard and dripping were replaced with ‘healthier’ butters and margarines.


Fat is back!


Still to this day, the debate around the types of ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ fats continues and we are constantly bombarded with information from both sides of the fence telling us to increase monounsaturated fats one day, or decrease saturated fats the next, or even to eliminate trans fats altogether. It can become confusing and overwhelming.


We, at York Foods, advocate a healthy lifestyle and making wellbeing choices that are balanced and include full flavoured foods wherever possible. We love food and we’re not afraid to tell anyone that listens to us! That’s why we are glad to say that fat is back!


How to use lard and dripping in everyday cooking


Both lard and dripping are the result of rendered animal fat, but the difference lies in how this process is undertaken and sometimes the type of animal fat. Lard will always be produced from pig fat; however dripping can be from both Lamb or Beef.


Lard is best used as a substitute for butter or vegetable oils in baking, pastry, frying or cooking, where dripping can give a deep, meaty flavour when basting or roasting. Use both like you would butter - so add to the frying pan and heat before adding your food; or melt in the microwave before basting meats; or add to a roasting pan and melt in the oven before throwing in your vegetables. Both products have a high smoking point which means they have to get quite hot before they smoke or burn. This makes them great for high temperature cooking like stir frying.


Reuse your lard and dripping


Both fats can be reused when they have cooled. There are a couple of ways to do this and we talk about what to do and what not to do over on our dripping pot page on our website. We’re glad to say that the humble dripping pot is making a comeback!


Whether you’re looking to add depth of flavour to roasts or want to relive your memories from your youth when grandma baked Sunday dessert, we really can’t stress enough that a jar of lard and dripping should be added to your larder.


Fun fact: the term ‘larder’ came about as the place where generations before us stored their lard.


Head on over to our website to find out more about our products.


How saturated fats play a role in your high performance diet

24 June 2015

Athletes achieve their peak sporting performance through good diet, nutrition, and eating a variety of foods. The energy they need commonly comes from fats, carbohydrates, and protein, however the ratio of which athletes should consume these foods is often debated.

Carbohydrates should form the basis of the high performance athlete’s diet, that’s a given, however depending on the type of sports being performed, upping the inclusion of saturated fats should be considered.

The fat you consume will depend on the sport you play

This is because essentially, fat is at the core, fuel for exercise, and provides a higher concentration of energy than carbohydrates or proteins. If you are a sportsperson performing quick, intense activities - think sprinting or rowing - then high calorific fats won’t physically be accessible to you due to the way the body accesses stored energy. However, for the sportsperson undertaking endurance sports - cycling, cross-country skiing, or hiking - then ensuring your diet is high fat plays an important part in your performance.

How well trained you are impacts how quickly energy from fat is used

Other than looking at the sports being performed, it’s important to consider the athlete’s condition; that is, are they trained or untrained? This is because trained athletes use fat for energy far more quickly, than untrained. Trained athletes are able to metabolise the fat a lot faster than moderate exercisers due to the intense preparation that has been undertaken for competition.

As more research is undertaken in the area of sports performance and the relationship with fat intake, more and more evidence is coming to hand that sportspeople who restrict the amount of fats in their diet are actually hindering their overall performance.

Fat is important for pre- and post-event recovery

We also know that fats positively affect our hormonal functions, muscle growth, tissue repair, and immune system strength. This is obviously important for the sportsperson looking to get their body ready for peak performance, as well as recovering appropriately after their competition.

High performance athletes know what they want to achieve and need to ensure they have access to the right information to make the best, well-informed decisions in relation to diet and exercise. A training regime will help performance and even more so when a good diet, tailored to your sport and your level of athleticism is in place.

Get results using York Foods products

If you are looking for an easier way to achieve great results without undesirable weight gain, increasing your intake of natural slow release saturated fats and Omegas 3 and 6 in your diet is an effective option.

Using our drippings, oil or lard in your cooking is a simple way to achieve this. Have a look through our recipes and suggested uses sections for inspiration.


Fats: The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth

28 May 2015
The team here at York Foods are a lot of things. We’re a family and a business. We’re locals through and through. We’re pioneers, advocates, and self promoters. We are passionate and we’re determined. We’re all of these things and more because we stand behind our range of 100% natural and Australian-made products and we firmly believe that they should be a part of your family’s diet. 

When we talk to new customers, we often find the most confusion is around understanding the difference between the fats and knowing what kinds to include in our diets. 

So, in this article we talk briefly about the different types of fats and share with you some facts about the fats included in the products we provide to the community. 

York Foods products 

All York Foods’ products are natural, 100% free from preservatives and chemicals and many of the products are organic certified, which involves production using methods that do not include modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Organic foods are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives. Our Australian-made products are used by many not only for the added health benefits, but for the difference they make to the taste of home made goods. 

We often get asked what each fat is and where does it come from so we thought we would provide a few names below to help you understand the wonderful world of fats. 

  • Tallow is a word often used especially in many recipes and Paleo diet discussions in today's society. The word ‘Tallow’ often refers to any type of fat that is rendered from animal, however the term tallow can also refer to any type of quality & mixture of fats, including non-edible. 
  • Lard is sourced only from pig fat.
  • Drippingis an English term often used to define lamb or beef fat. 
  • Suet is a fat derived from the kidney fat only from within a beef animal. The role of the suet fat within an animal is designed to protect the kidney and is therefore often a harder type of fat to cook with. 
  • Smaltz is an Austrian/German description for dripping or lard. 

All of these products, when used in your cooking, enhance the taste, flavour and add to your overall healthy fats consumption. 

The takeaway 

Ensuring that you have the right information to make better informed choices about the food you eat is what motivates the team at York Foods every day. Our products are 100% natural and contain the right combination of healthier fats so that you can be sure you are taking care of your and your family’s health.

Visit our online store to see what products you can add to your pantry today.

Chef Christophe’s French Style Christmas pudding

4 December 2014

Recipe for 8 people

Ingredients

  • 170 grams brown sugar
  • 200gram “fresh” bread crumbs
  • 300 grams sultana
  • 120 grams glazed orange rind
  • 230 grams glazed cherries
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon dry ginger
  • 1 teaspoon dry coriander
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 40 grams plain flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 60 mls French brandy
  • 175 grams Wagyu beef fat
  • Brandy butter
  • 80 grams unsalted butter
  • 80 grams pure icing sugar
  • 30 mls French brandy

Extra

  • Using a large stainless bowl – add brown sugar, glazed fruit and sultana. Wagyu fat, spices, salt and flour.
  • Using a wooden spoon, combine all ingredients
  • Add the eggs and brandy
  • Line a stainless steel bowl with plastic / gladwrap paper – and pour the mixture in the bowl.
  • Using a tea towel – wrap the bowl as demonstrated.
  • Cook in a hot Bain Marie – simmer for 10 hours
  • Cool down -before stabilising in the fridge – overnight.
  • Warm the pudding again using a hot Bain Marie for 2 hours.

Make the brandy butter

  • Cream soft butter and icing sugar
  • Add the brandy – mix until smooth
  • Remove the pudding from the bowl, remove the plastic wrap. Plate the large pudding on a beautiful serving dish or platter.
  • Using the extra brandy – flame the pudding – before serving.
  • 30 mls French brandy – to flame!

Reposted with permission from https://letresbon.com.au/chef-christophes-french-style-christmas-pudding/


Goulburn business wins Best New Retail Product at Fine Food Australia

14 April 2014

Goulburn business, York Foods has won the award for Best New Retail Product at the Fine Food Australia show in Sydney this week for its Wagyu oil product. Winning this prestigious award will help promote York Foods to a wider audience in the food  industry.

York Foods was one of a group of 16 businesses from regional NSW that showcased their food and beverage products on the Flavours of NSW stand funded by NSW Trade and Investment.

Exhibitors on the NSW stand were aiming to secure deals with domestic and international distributors, local retailers including delis, gourmet stores and supermarkets, as well as pick up business in the hospitality and food service industry.

York Foods from Goulburn has been feeding the world since 1935 and was a key supplier of beef dripping for Britain in the Second World War. The company's products now include Wagyu oil, beef dripping, pork lard, and mutton fat for use in cooking.

For more information on York Foods Pty Ltd, go to www.yorkfoods.com.au

Fine Food Australia is the nation's largest food and hospitality industry event. Fine Food Australia usually attracts around 24,000 trade buyers from the retail, food service, hospitality and manufacturing sectors.

Fine Food Australia was held in Sydney from September 5-7. For more information on Fine Food Australia, visit www.finefoodaustralia.com.au


Value adding: Wagyu oil wins award

14 April 2014

A rendered Wagyu cooking oil product which can be used as a beef-based substitute for expensive duck fat in cooking has scored a major award at the nation’s largest food industry exhibition.

Goulburn-based producer of rendered food products, York Foods, won best new retail product at the Fine Foods Australia Expo being held in Sydney this week.

The win came against a large catalogue of contenders from a wide range of food and beverage fields designed for consumer purchase on display at the show.

The company’s screw-top jar-packaged Wagyu Oil is a unique oil extracted from fatty Wagyu beef trim under export-quality guidelines at York Foods’ premises in the NSW Southern Highlands.

The company says the resultant product is a 100 percent natural, high quality, cream-coloured cooking oil, which is finely textured and has a satin-like appearance. Its low melting-point around 33c contributes to a desirable mouth-feel and flavour. It is not chemically modified and contains no artificial additives, preservatives or anti-oxidants.

Wagyu oil’s unique properties make it suitable for use in a wide variety of cooking applications, York Foods says. It is suitable for many traditional solid fat applications, such as bakery and pastry products, confectionery, and baking and frying.

The low melting point also makes it suitable in applications using oils, such as salads and stir-fries. Its mild flavour only enhances its versatility.

Many top restaurant chefs use Wagyu fat as a flavourful substitute for duck fat when cooking baked potatoes, for example.

The product packaging emphasises the unique qualities of Wagyu fat, which carry a higher proportion of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids. It says Wagyu oil provides a balanced source of energy, while providing high levels of mono unsaturated fatty acids (51pc) including oleic acid (44.6pc). It also provides a source of Omega 6 (2pc) and Omega 3 (0.2pc).

Fine Food Australia is Australia’s largest gathering of international food, drink and equipment exhibitors for the retail, foodservice and hospitality industries


Wagyu oil set to sizzle

14 April 2014

IT TURNS out there was a reason our parents and grandparents cooked with fat – it tastes better.

And specialty manufacturers of animal origin cooking oils, family-owned and operated company, York Foods, has figured it out and is turning fat into the new black with their gourmet range of animal oils.

Launching their new Wagyu Oil at next week’s Sydney Royal Fine Food Show, York Foods, based in Goulburn on the Southern Tablelands, isn’t new to the oil business, with Edward Morrish Philpott having established the company in 1935.

Still operated by Ted and Lynne Philpott – the third-generation “fat makers” to run York Foods – the Wagyu Oil is a new specialty product aimed at anybody who cooks with any type of oil.

The unique oil is extracted from Wagyu beef and according to Mr Philpott, crosses the boundaries between an animal fat and oil.

Known as a beef breed with superior eating quality, the Wagyu traits are passed on in the oil.

The high meat quality of the Japanese originated Wagyu is achieved because the breed has a genetic predisposition to layer or marble fat throughout its muscle.

And the Philpotts have realised the benefits of using this fat as a cooking base.

The Wagyu fat is unique because of its higher proportion of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids – which makes the meat more tender and juicy.

Previously involved with the Wagyu breed, Mr Philpott said the launch of the oil was the culmination of many years of research and development.

While they didn’t breed their own Wagyu cattle, the raw material was bought in and was extracted only from Australian Wagyu beef.

Made in “virtually the same way my grandfather made animal oils”, Mr Philpott said the oil was manufactured in the old-fashioned way to avoid changing the molecules too much.

The Wagyu Oil is manufactured under strict export-quality guidelines set out by Australian Quaran-tine and Inspection Service (AQIS) at the York Foods factory in Goulburn, making the product 100 per cent Australian made, pure and natural.