The fat of the land

If you've forgotten how good a glass of whole milk tastes, or how juicy a steak can be, you'll be pleased to know that a little of what you fancy officially does you good. Michael Bateman butters up farmers, butchers, chefs and critics to find out their crackling tips

To declare that fat is not harmful for you, in this obsessive low-fat, no-fat age, is surely heresy. So, when I tuned in to Rick Stein's new primetime television series, Food Heroes, it was a little surprising to see him frying up a fatty pork chop and telling viewers, don't be scared of fat, it tastes good and it's very good for you.

And there was more. He said that people have been telling us to cut off the fat and discard it for too long, that there's no need, that fat is healthy. Was Stein, primarily known as a fish expert, confusing animal fat with fish oils (we all know about our friend omega-3, and that it's in salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines...)? Absolutely not. You see, over the past five years, the "low fat equals healthy diet" advice has started to seem less convincing.

To get the story from the beginning, we have to go back about 30 years or so, to a time when the new advice from the US was given that we should eat primarily carbohydrates, because fat, it was thought, makes you fat. We all started feasting on pasta, rice and bread without a care in the world. These also happened to be the types of food that are most easily marketed (a branded pizza makes more sense than a branded runner bean), so we munched a little more. And what happened? Obesity levels rose and rose. Now, this could be because we didn't exercise enough. But now there's another theory: that those very foods (refined carbohydrates) could be the cause of the increase in obesity in the West.

It does get scientific, but here's a very simplified version. Refined carbohydrates are converted very quickly into blood sugar. So after pigging out on your oh-so-healthy carbs, your blood-sugar levels rocket. So the body produces huge levels of insulin, causing the sugar to be taken out of the blood. But that makes you feel hungry again. So you eat more carbs, and – well, you get the idea. In essence, people got fatter because they became hungrier than ever, because they were eating so much "healthy" rice, bread and pasta.

Now nutritionists are going a step further. Not only is carbohydrate perhaps not the best thing to base your diet on, they say, but animal fat is not so bad after all. "The message that we should remove all fat from the diet is going too far," says Dr Klaus Wahle, one of the country's leading authorities, who is based at the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen. "Fats confer health benefits," he says. "They are essential for growth, the building block for cells. It's absolutely mad to cut out all fat or cholesterol."

The latest research has identified a substance called CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) found in the fat of beef and lamb in particular, that positively contributes to health, reducing the risk of cancers and, who'd have guessed it, heart disease. Funny how things work out.

So what should we do? Make a beeline for the nearest greasy spoon? Well, hang on. Fat does contain more calories per gram than protein or carbohydrate – that's the reason we were told to avoid it in the first place. So the new research is no green light to gorge yourself. I'm afraid calorie-counting looks like it's here for a while yet.

But eating animal fat, if it's well-produced, from animals that have themselves eaten all the right things and led the right lifestyle (good pasture, fresh air, freedom to stretch their legs a little), should be back on your table.

For food-lovers, this is seriously good news. What's beyond doubt is that a little fat used here and there sure raises one thing: flavour. So, with this in mind, I thought we ought to remind ourselves of treats we may now once more enjoy – every now and again. I contacted eminent foodies – needless to say, they were delighted. Perhaps the mood was best summarised by David Wilson, who runs Prince Charles's Home Farm, part of the Highgrove estate: "I really think there's a lack of common sense in peoples' attitudes to fat. If they're served meat, they'll leave the fat on the side of the plate – as if in disgust. Then they'll eat processed cakes and confectioneries, which contain unhealthy hydrogenated fats."

He seems to have hit the nail on the head. Back on the phone to Dr Wahle, he says we need to know more about the type of fat we're eating. If we eat nothing but crisps, chips, pastries, pies, biscuits and ice-cream, we overburden our bodies, he says. But getting the balance right by eating a moderate amount of good fat can only improve your health.

So it's official. A little of what you fancy does you good. And if you want to know what those foodies love most about fat, read what they told me (right).

Where there's fat, there's flavour...

Spread a little happiness

Henry Harris, director and head chef at Racine, 239 Brompton Road, London SW3, tel: 020 7584 4477

"I use about 50kg of butter a week in my kitchens, and that's for around 1,000 covers. And then there's an extra 10kg that people spread on their bread. Still, I wouldn't say I use it to excess.

"People aren't shy of butter and cream, they just choose not to eat it often. You're better off with proper farmhouse butter once a week, rather than using some factory-produced substitute. The best has to be from Gironde, just south of the Loire. They make unpasteurised, with crystals of wet, greeny, iodiney salt. It really is delicious. If I had to live without butter, I'd miss everything, the list would never stop. But to name one example... béarnaise sauce."

Nothing to beef about

David Lidgate, fifth-generation butcher at Lidgate's, 110 Holland Park Avenue, London W11, tel: 020 7727 8243

"I love the fat we get on our beef – especially the Aberdeen Angus and other native breeds from as far north as possible – the grass is best there. Some UK breeds, because they absorb nutrients from the pasture so well, have a yellower fat through the meat and around the outside of the cut. It's buttery and, though not all fats are the same, this is healthy. Fry it in a griddle pan so some of the fat is reabsorbed into the meat, and you don't need to add any oil. We make pots of beef-fat dripping with it which we sell in the shop – it really does make amazingly good roast potatoes.

"The same goes for lamb. We're coming to the end of the Welsh lamb season, though the salt-marsh lamb fat is lovely, but you can still easily get Shetland heather- and grass-fed lamb because the spring arrives later up there. Again, the fat is yellow, and it bastes the meat. Simply roast it."

Whey to go

Antonio Carluccio, author and owner of the eponymous deli/cafés

"Parma ham without the fat would be very boring. The pigs are fed on the whey that's a by-product of Parmesan cheese, as well as maize meal. Pork fat is highly prized in Italy. Lardo, back fat, which has been preserved with salt and pepper and sometimes rosemary, is used like butter, spread on bruschetta. Pork fat is fried to make cioccoli, like French rillettes. And lardo is pounded to a paste, battuto, to add to sauces. Good fat is very important in our diet – we in Italy eat things for their flavour."

Dear dairy

David Wilson, farm manager of Home Farm, Highgrove, which sells produce under the label Duchy Originals, available at Waitrose

"I'm so used to good quality milk, I can taste poor-quality milk even in tea or coffee. Our dairy herds are Ayrshires, and we've discovered that their milk naturally has smaller, more uniform fat globules, making it easier to digest. And, although it has to be pasteurised, we don't homogenise it. I drink whole milk, as I think most people should. We do make semi-skimmed for people who need it, but I think most should go for the product as it's found naturally."

Skinned alive

Evelyn Rose, author of books on Jewish cooking

"In Jewish cooking, fat is very important. There's schmaltz, chicken fat used in frying, and gribenes, chicken skin fried in little pieces – give it to the kids, it's very nutritious. You only need a little bit. If you cut down on fat, you throw out the flavour."

Telling porkies

Rick Stein, TV cook, presenting new BBC series, 'Food Heroes'

"I've been travelling the country meeting producers, and I keep finding people with rare breeds that taste so nice. These older breeds [as opposed to animals bred to meet commercial pressures for higher lean-meat content] have more fat on them and that's why they taste better.

"Eating meat without fat is a pretty dull affair. Whether it's beef or lamb or pork, fat moistens the meat and makes it juicier and tastier. But my favourite type of fat is probably roast pork loin with crackling, taken from the Gloucester Old Spot breed."

Feathered friends

Michel Roux, opened three-star restaurant, The Waterside Inn (Bray, Berkshire, tel: 01628 620 691), 30 years ago

"I like nothing more than a good entrecote steak with a bit of fat. The fat on free-range chicken is firm and smells good. But if you get a factory bird, it has a different kind of fat, there's nothing you can do except throw it away."

Say cheese

Egon Ronay, restaurant critic

"I love full-fat cheese. In my opinion, the very best in the world is Epoisse from Burgundy. It's ripened in Marc de Bourgogne, and it's very strong. I have to eat it outside the house because my wife, Barbara, says it even gives my socks a bad name. I also like goats' cheeses, strong cheddar and Cornish Yarg. I don't accept all this rubbish about dairy foods being bad for you. The evidence can seem entirely contradictory."

The famous goose

Pascal Aussignac, owner of Club Gascon (57 West Smithfield, London EC1, tel: 020 7796 0600), a restaurant that's famous for its foie gras menu

"Goose fat on its own is too rich, but I use a mixture of duck and goose fat in all my cooking. I use it for French fries, wild mushrooms for sauce Bordelaise, beef fillet and roast game. You do it for flavour – you don't eat a large amount of the fat. Foie gras contains a high percentage of polyunsaturates. I eat a slice of foie gras every day, and I'm still slim."