"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
m...
>
> I heard that McD's used to use beef fat for fries and changed to veg oil
due
> to health concerns. One book I read said that horse fat makes the best
> fries, but I do not think it is available at the A&P! For home frying you
> can use essentially any vegegtable oil - canola, peanut, corn, safflower,
> etc. You can also use shortening (such as Crisco).
>

Peter is correct. McD used to use beef tallow and the fries were superb!
They later went to a mixture of lard and vegetable shortening I understand
(probably cost saving). Now they use flavorless veggie oil. The fries aren't
worth eating now IMO. I've heard about the use of horse fat too Peter. As I
remember the horse fat was being used in Belgium. I use peanut oil for most
deep fat frying - chicken and pork still require lard though!

Charliam