Fats and Oils

There are a wide range of fats and oils available to cook with. Olive oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil and rapeseed oil are some common liquid oils.  At Christmas time, we also use hard fats like goose fat for cooking with.  Rapeseed oil is produced in Scotland and comes from oilseed rape – you will see the fields of yellow over the countryside in the summer months.  This plant produces pods with seeds inside.  These seeds may be small, but they contain oil and many seeds, which when squashed, give you rape seed oil.

If you are using rapeseed oil, opt for Scottish companies.

Goose fat is available in UK supermarkets and shops and will probably have been sourced within the EU.  This is obtained by cooking the goose and collecting up the resulting fat – much like you can do at home.  The three most prominent goose-breeding countries are France, Hungary and Poland. There is also a small artisan manufacturing industry in the UK – check the packaging for this.

Which fat to use?

Fats and oils help aid the cooking process and provide the ‘crunch’ on roast vegetables.  Hard fats like goose fat have a higher % of saturated fat, whilst oils tend to have less saturated and more polyunsaturated and monosaturated fatty chains which are healthier fats.  However, they should still be used sparingly as they are high in calories.

Look for oilseed rape brands from Scotland and the UK and help support the local economy. Make sure you don’t put fats and oils down the drain as this can cause blockages. It’s a no brainer use a container!