Re: CO in the news: replacing transfats in NYC

[Guest guest]

Where is the article, Ann?

CO in the news: replacing transfats in NYC

Here's a link to a short NY Times article on how chefs are dealing with

the NYC ban on trans fats in restaurant food. Coconut oil came out a

winner, taste-wise, twice! Neat article. We are on the cusp of a CO

renaissance... Maybe cheaper CO in future as its popularity grows, for

reasons beyond its health: just simple taste.

Ann in Malaysia

[Guest guest]

Coconut oil came out a

winner, taste-wise, twice!

**************

altho I would guess it wouldnt be vco

probably processed from copra

[Guest guest]

Here's the link! Sorry I forgot to paste it. I'm

also copying the article text. -Ann

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/11/nyregion/11fat.html?_r=1 & oref=login

December 11, 2006

In City’s Trans Fat Ban, a Challenge Fit for a Chef

By THOMAS J. LUECK

Two days after New York City adopted the nation’s

first major municipal ban on all but tiny amounts of

artificial trans fats in restaurant cooking,

S. Schwartz lined up Crisco, coconut oil, canola oil,

peanut oil, butter and lard on a counter.

Mr. Schwartz, a chef who has worked in some of the

city’s most celebrated restaurants, including Le

Cirque and Osteria del Circo, agreed to conduct a

cooking experiment on Thursday at the Institute of

Culinary Education, where he is an instructor.

Could he make dishes that are as good, or better,

using only the trace amount of trans fats allowed

under the city’s new rules? It was a question many of

the city’s more than 20,000 restaurants would be

wrestling with.

“Personally, I don’t want the government telling me

what I can eat,” Mr. Schwartz said, making it clear

that he considered the city’s new rule a blow to his

civil liberties. Nevertheless, he said, his cooking

skills were up to the task.

“For anybody who is trained in food preparation, this

is no problem,” he said, as he gathered the

ingredients for three varieties of tarte Tatin, an

apple tart. Also on his menu this day were five

varieties of French fries and fried chicken, each

using one of the different oils and shortenings.

Part of the test was to see if Crisco — the only

ingredient he was using whose trans fat content

exceeds what will be allowed under the new rules —

produced a better result in taste, texture or

appearance than the other oils and shortenings. The

other objective was to find the best trans fat

alternative for each dish.

“Chefs experiment all the time,” Mr. Schwartz said.

“It’s our culture.”

Of course, the scope of Mr. Schwartz’s test was

narrow. Commercial kitchens will have to find

alternative oils and shortenings that yield consistent

results in a large number of their menu items and that

are cost efficient.

The rules adopted by the city’s Board of Health are to

be phased in. Restaurants will have to eliminate

margarines and shortenings that contain more than a

trace of trans fats by July 1, and to remove all items

from their menus that exceed a limit of a half-gram of

trans fat per serving by July 1, 2008. Violators will

face fines of at least $200.

The measure has widely been applauded by health

advocates, who point to an established link between

artificial trans fats and heart disease. But many in

the restaurant industry say they fear that they will

not be able to replicate dishes that now exceed the

limit on trans fats.

Trans fats, derived from partially hydrogenated oils,

have been used since Crisco was introduced in 1911. By

the 1950s, trans fats were used as an alternative to

the saturated fats in butter and in some processed

foods, but they became a staple of the American diet

with the rise of fast food in the ’70s.

They allow fast-food and other restaurants to use

frying oil for longer periods. Some bakeries and

restaurants that serve pastries, doughnuts or pies

face particular challenges because trans fat

shortenings have long been used to maintain a certain

texture and appearance. They make pie crusts flaky,

cookies crunchy and frosting creamy.

In many cases, trans fats also give baked goods a

longer shelf life than those prepared with butter or

trans fat-free cooking oils.

There are plenty of alternatives, including

margarines, shortenings and even a variety of Crisco

made without them. The challenge is finding the right

one, say those in the restaurant industry.

“The problem with this law, we’re not scientists,”

said Joe Bianchi, the owner of Pozzo Pastry Shop in

Hell’s Kitchen. “Butter tastes good, there’s no doubt

about it, but some cookies become hard when you use

only butter, and they don’t have a long shelf life.”

One of Pozzo’s specialties, cannoli, is cooked with

trans fat shortening. “It’s less greasy when it’s

fried in shortening,” said Mr. Bianchi, who is also

the baker at Pozzo. “In regular oil, it comes out

feeling wet, and you can feel the fat in your mouth.”

At Good and Plenty, another restaurant in Hell’s

Kitchen, the cookie recipe calls for a blend of butter

and margarine that exceeds the amount of trans fats

allowed by the city. It will be changed, said Eileen

Weinberg, the owner, but not until after the holidays.

“I don’t think that there will be a different taste,”

Ms. Weinberg said, but she admitted to some

trepidation. “I hope not.”

At the Institute of Culinary Education, which has

teaching kitchens on several floors of a building on

West 23rd Street, Mr. Schwartz said he would be less

confident in his ability to cook with only trace

amounts of trans fats if he specialized in pastries.

The tarte Tatin, French fries and fried chicken he

prepared on Thursday represented popular menu items

that many restaurants will be forced to reformulate

under the new city rules.

Mr. Schwartz chose Crisco, butter and coconut oil,

which is higher in saturated fat than butter, as the

three competing ingredients in his apple tarts. “I can

tell you in advance, the Crisco will make a flakier

crust,” he said, before removing them from the oven.

He was right. The slightly browned pastry crust made

with Crisco was light, flaky and beckoning. By

contrast, the tart made with butter had a flatter,

firmer and less appealing crust; the one made with

coconut oil appeared lumpy, and crumbled under a

knife.

Still, when it came to taste, according to a highly

unscientific test by Mr. Schwartz and this reporter,

the tart made with coconut oil was the best.

Mr. Schwartz’s French fries were made from freshly

sliced potatoes prepared in each of the five

shortenings and oils. The results were mixed, with the

fries cooked in Crisco crispier than the others.

Those made with coconut oil had a particularly

succulent taste, perhaps the best of the lot, but were

limp. Despite coconut oil’s appeal, it is considered

too expensive by some restaurants.

The fried chicken, prepared using each of the

ingredients except butter, was the last of the items

that Mr. Schwartz ladled from his pots. All five

varieties had almost identical crunchy crusts. And

each tasted about the same.

In this case, it seemed, Mr. Schwartz showed that

fried chicken was one dish open to different

preparations. With or without trans fats, it tasted

great.

Kim Severson and Cathcart contributed

reporting.

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