Low-Fat

I really like cottage cheese. I like it with a little spot of raspberry jam. And I eat enough of it that I decided maybe 4% milk-fat, the equivalent of whole milk, was not the way to go for my health. So I decided to give low-fat cottage cheese a try. I like 1% milk well enough, why not try 1% milk fat cottage cheese. I figured it would be more or less like my regular cottage cheese, just missing a little of its fat-soul.
This was the biggest mistake I have made in at least 6 weeks.
I tried it and it was the worst taste experience ever. It was chunky (obviously), but sour and bland at the same time. Luckily was standing alone in my kitchen because I made that surprised, horrified face a baby makes the first time he is forced to eat strained peas.

But this got me thinking about the role of fat in our food. Beyond the role of fats in our health and what they do to our bodies, what does fat mean for taste? As we have discussed in class, there is a biological imperative that drives our preference for high-fat foods. At 9 calories/gram (compared to 4 calories/gram for both protein and carbohydrates) fat is the most energy dense nutrient we can consume. This was important back when we were spending massive amounts of energy hunting wildebeasts, but maybe less so nowadays. Anyhow, we want fat, try as we might to deny it. When food manufacturers design low-fat foods, they try their hardest to mimic the mouth sensation of creaminess, using thickeners and the like because that is what people respond positively to.

But what about a grease-drenched burger? Few people look at that burger and say "mmmm grease". Think of the last Burger King ad you saw. Fast food advertisements go to great lengths to show their food in its most pristine form, and that does not include pools of grease on a crinkled up wrapper. It is as though we like fat, but we don't like the fat we're consuming to be shoved right in our face. I'm reminded of David's comment in class a few weeks ago when he talked about working in a restaurant. The restaurants food was sooo good and everyone wanted to know what the secret was, and it was quite simple. Fats were used in almost every stage of cooking.

The rise of obesity and changes in lifestyle that have occurred in the last century have made our relationship with fat much more complex than ever before. Fats certainly have been villainized, and not without some cause, but it is hard to deny that the human animal craves fat. For better or worse, fat tastes good. So if you are a big fan of low-fat cottage cheese, there is an almost-full container in my fridge that you are welcome to. I'm sticking to full-fat.