The secret of margarine

Corzhens

Corzhens

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The margarine was very popular here when I was in grade school. It seemed that butter was only for the rich and everyone I know uses margarine for the bread. But when I grew up, butter got cheaper and had eclipsed margarine in popularity.

From one of the popular Filipino restaurants here, I have learned that margarine is so good with beef because it extracts the best flavor of beef particularly in beef soup. All you have to do is to add one table spoon of margarine to the beef soup. Try it.
 
I don't like margarine because of the fake buttery taste but I love making fried rice with a little bit of margarine. It's greasier and definitely unhealthier but it's like MSG or some magic because it instantly changed the rice taste. I'd never try that now because I'm trying to eat healthier.
 
One thing to note with modern margarine is that it no longer contains trans fatty acids which were the dangerous elements of margarine originally. So it is simply a case of taste now which is why virtually all margarine has dairy (in some form) added to it! :o_o: Not great for those of us allergic to or simply avoiding dairy products!

Flora (in the UK) eliminated trans fatty acids from their margarine back in 1994. http://www.flora.com/about-flora
About Flora
With a mission to ‘add vitality to life’ and a background in nutrition research, Unilever has been at the forefront of developing heart healthy margarines and spreads for over 40 years. The link between increased consumption of saturated fats and coronary heart disease was firmly established in the 1950s. Unilever responded to this in 1964 by launching Flora polyunsaturated margarine, the healthy alternative to butter, lard and hard margarine which are all high in saturated fats.

Since then Flora products have all been adapted in line with new scientific knowledge. During the 1990s scientific research established that trans fatty acids have a negative effect on blood lipids and can increase the risk of CHD (Coronary Heart Disease). As a result of this research, in 1994 Flora became the first spread to contain no hydrogenated vegetable oils and be virtually trans fat free.

More recently Flora increased the amount of omega-3 polyunsaturated fats in all its Flora spreads.
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There is an interesting PDF here (http://www.nutrition.org.uk/attachments/045_Facts about trans fats.pdf) on trans fatty acids and what they are, and their consumption in the UK.

And the NHS responded to the "wonderful" Daily Telegraph report back in August with this... Flora only removed trans fatty acids from margarine the over 21 years ago! :laugh:
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2015/08August/Pages/Butter-not-bad-for-you-but-trans-fats-may-be-harmful.aspx
In fact, due to the negative publicity surrounding trans fats in recent years, food manufactures have virtually removed trans fats from the UK food chain.
Most brands of margarine now contain no, or only trace elements, of trans fats.
A recent factsheet released by the British Nutrition Foundation (PDF, 23kb) estimated that, on average, trans fats account for 1% of total energy intake per person in the UK, which is thought to be well within safe limits.
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When I was much younger I was always hearing that margarine was better for us than butter. Later on, I started hearing that butter is the healthier choice. Because of this, we have not been using margarine on a regular basis these days. The only time I use it is when I am doing mashed potatoes or sometimes to fry an egg if I want a change from using oil. However, as a general rule, I use oil for frying. On a few occasions, I have also added margarine to gravy. I must admit that it does enhance the flavour of the food though..
 
Most margarine is quite unhealthy due to the partially hydrogenated oils they contain. Also, the big thing in the US is GMO's or genetically modified organisms. Most margarine brands are now advertising they do not have it. The last margarine I bought, I made sure it was good for cholesterol and was non GMO, and id not contain transfats. Unfortunately, I like the stick margarine because it is easier to measure. They need to make that in the good for you margarine!
 
We tend to use a product that promotes low cholesterol. Other than that, we grill everything we can, or use an actifry which uses zero as far as fats/oils is concerned. When I make cakes however, I do tend to use butter now because the taste in my opinion is better.
 
welsh dragon said:
We tend to use a product that promotes low cholesterol. Other than that, we grill everything we can, or use an actifry which uses zero as far as fats/oils is concerned. When I make cakes however, I do tend to use butter now because the taste in my opinion is better.
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Does this Actifry thingy work. Its an expensive gadget but I've been tempted. Tell the truth...does it really make great chips with a teaspoon of fat?
 
morning glory said:
Does this Actifry thingy work. Its an expensive gadget but I've been tempted. Tell the truth...does it really make great chips with a teaspoon of fat?
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The answer is yes it does what it says on the tin. Because you only use a teaspoon of oil, you dont get that horrible smell when doing chips in a deep fat fryer. And you can cook so many things. Chips, sausages, chilli. Not fish though as it would break up In the fryer. Its a lot healtheir and the food tastes great.

because Mr WD has high cholesterol and high blood pressure, we dont eat fatty fried foods anymore. Everythimg is grilled or baked or done in the actifry. yes the initial outlay is a lot higher than buying a deep fat fryer, but it's a one off purchase. And its a lot easier to clean than a fat fryer. I'd recommend it to anyone. Ive had mine for about 2 or 3 yeats now.
 
I have never thought that margarine may be the better addition to beef dishes. I will definitely try it. Butter is my first choice, even though the cost is triple of margarine here, because I do a lot of baking with it and the flavor is better to me. Shortbread cookie definitely call for butter. But I could see how it may work better in soups or casseroles.
 
I always use butter in my cooking and baking needs. It is for the reason that in my taste it is better than a margarine. And I always buy a good brand of butter and it doesn't matter to me even though it is a little bit expensive as long as it will make my recipes delicious and enjoyable by my family.
 
I guess I never really knew the secret of margarine. As a child I just felt like I considered everything to be butter, margarine included. I grew up using neither with any consistency. I know the flavour can be great but I tried to use other techniques to accomplish great flavours.
 
winterybella said:
I guess I never really knew the secret of margarine. As a child I just felt like I considered everything to be butter, margarine included. I grew up using neither with any consistency. I know the flavour can be great but I tried to use other techniques to accomplish great flavours.
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Same with me, I also thought that it's all butter. When I was young, the most popular bread spread is the brand Dari Creme. Particularly the poor, Dari Creme is the common man's breakfast. When I grew up, that's the time I learned that Dari Creme was indeed margarine and the expensive Anchor is the real butter. Now, we have both margarine (not Dari Creme but Star brand) and Anchor butter. We normally use margarine for cooking beef. Even boiled beef would taste better with a tablespoon of margarine.
 
Great to know I was not alone on the butter subject. Thanks for the company Corzhens. Everything was butter, just different types. You live and you learn.
 
welsh dragon said:
The answer is yes it does what it says on the tin. Because you only use a teaspoon of oil, you dont get that horrible smell when doing chips in a deep fat fryer. And you can cook so many things. Chips, sausages, chilli. Not fish though as it would break up In the fryer. Its a lot healtheir and the food tastes great.

because Mr WD has high cholesterol and high blood pressure, we dont eat fatty fried foods anymore. Everythimg is grilled or baked or done in the actifry. yes the initial outlay is a lot higher than buying a deep fat fryer, but it's a one off purchase. And its a lot easier to clean than a fat fryer. I'd recommend it to anyone. Ive had mine for about 2 or 3 yeats now.
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It does seem good from all reviews I read. But how much space does it take up? This one is on sale at Argos. Can you tell me how big the footprint is?

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...krskCFRKeGwodZ54Nxw#pdpFullProductInformation
 
morning glory said:
It does seem good from all reviews I read. But how much space does it take up? This one is on sale at Argos. Can you tell me how big the footprint is?

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9066650.htm?CMPID=GS001&_$ja=cgid:17471076873|tsid:59157|cid:199888833|lid:92281012833|nw:g|crid:74692319553|rnd:13529846965011298615|dvc:c|adp:1o1|bku:1&gclid=CLDthf3krskCFRKeGwodZ54Nxw#pdpFullProductInformation
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Thats a difficult one. Proably the footprint of a very large frying pan, and it is about 12 inches high perhaps? Probably the same as a deep fat fryer.
 
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